Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/175

Ch. 2. hould be exercied by the people in their aggregate or collective capacity, as was wiely ordained in the petty republics of Greece, and the firt rudiments of the Roman tate. But this will be highly inconvenient, when the public territory is extended to any coniderable degree, and the number of citizens is encreaed. Thus when, after the ocial war, all the burghers of Italy were admitted free citizens of Rome, and each had a vote in the public aemblies, it became impoible to ditinguih the purious from the real voter, and from that time all elections and popular deliberations grew tumultuous and diorderly; which paved the way for Marius and Sylla, Pompey and Caear, to trample on the liberties of their country, and at lat to diolve the commonwealth. In o large a tate as ours it is therefore very wiely contrived, that the people hould do that by their repreentatives, which it is impracticable to perform in peron: repreentatives, choen by a number of minute and eparate ditricts, wherein all the voters are, or eaily may be, ditinguihed. The counties are therefore repreented by knights, elected by the proprietors of lands; the cities and boroughs are repreented by citizens and burgees, choen by the mercantile part or uppoed trading interet of the nation; much in the ame manner as the burghers in the diet of Sweden are choen by the corporate towns, Stockholm ending four, as London does with us, other cities two, and ome only one. The number of Englih repreentatives is 513, and of Scots 45; in all 558. And every member, though choen by one particular ditrict, when elected and returned erves for the whole realm. For the end of his coming thither is not particular, but general; not barely to advantage his contituents, but the common wealth; to advie his majety (as appears from the writ of ummons ) “” And therefore he is not bound, like a deputy in the united provinces, to conult with, or take the advice, of his contituents upon any particular point, unles he himelf thinks it proper or prudent o to do.