Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/187

Ch. 2. conits in the choice of repreentatives. The laws have therefore very trictly guarded againt uurpation or abue of this power, by many alutary proviions; which may be reduced to thee three points, 1.&ensp;The qualifications of the electors. 2.&ensp;The qualifications of the elected. 3.&ensp;The proceedings at elections.

1. to the qualifications of the electors. The true reaon of requiring any qualification, with regard to property, in voters, is to exclude uch perons as are in o mean a ituation that they are eteemed to have no will of their own. If thee perons had votes, they would be tempted to dipoe of them under ome undue influence or other. This would give a great, an artful, or a wealthy man, a larger hare in elections than is conitent with general liberty. If it were probable that every man would give his vote freely, and without influence of any kind, then, upon the true theory and genuine principles of liberty, every member of the community, however poor, hould have a vote in electing thoe delegates, to whoe charge is committed the dipoal of his property, his liberty, and his life. But, ince that can hardly be expected in perons of indigent fortunes, or uch as are under the immediate dominion of others, all popular tates have been obliged to etablih certain qualifications; whereby ome, who are upected to have no will of their own, are excluded from voting, in order to et other individuals, whoe wills may be uppoed independent, more thoroughly upon a level with each other.

this contitution of uffrages is framed upon a wier principle, with us, than either of the methods of voting, by centuries or by tribes, among the Romans. In the method by centuries, intituted by Servius Tullius, it was principally property, and not numbers, that turned the cale: in the method by tribes, gradually introduced by the tribunes of the people, numbers only were regarded and property entirely overlooked. Hence the laws paed by the former method had uually too great a tendency to aggrandize the patricians or rich nobles; and thoe by the latter had too much of a levelling principle. Our contitution teers Rh