(_For the Mirror._)
Lord Coke, in his fourth institute, defines certain qualities
essentially requisite to constitute a good member of parliament; and
he refers to a parliament roll, 3 Henry VI., which affirms that a
parliament man should have three properties ascribed to the
elephant--1. That he hath no gall; 2. That he is inflexible, and
cannot bow; 3. That he is of a most ripe and perfect memory.--1. To be
without malice, rancour, heat, and envy;--in elephante melancholia
transit in nutrimentum corporis: every gallish inclination, if any
were, should tend to the good of the whole body--the commonwealth. 2.
That he be constant, inflexible, and not be bowed, or turned from the
right, either from fear, reward, or favour; not in judgment respect
any person. 3. That in remembering perils past, dangers to come may be
prevented.
To these, addition is made by Lord Coke of two other properties of
elephants: the one, that though they be maximæ virtutis et maximi
intellectus, of great strength and understanding, _tamen gregatim
semper incedunt_, yet they are sociable, and go in companies; for
_animalia gregalia non sunt nociva, sed animalia solivaga sunt
nociva_: sociable creatures that go in flocks or herds are not
hurtful--as deer, sheep, &c.; but beasts that walk solely or
singularly, as bears, foxes, &c., are dangerous and hurtful. The other
property is, that the elephant is philanthropos, homini erranti viam
ostendit. And, in the opinion of Coke, these properties ought every
parliament man to have.
Neither the ancient nor modern election statutes mention, or imply,
the existence of a "candidate." The old laws direct that the
representative shall be freely and indifferently chosen by the
electors. The choice was of their own motion, and the person elected
was passive. Even at the present day, the law does not contemplate his
asking for votes, and therefore does not allow, after the issuing of
the writ, sufficient time for a regular canvass. The term "candidate"
had its derivation from the person being _candidatus,_ clothed in
white, as symbolical of the wearer's purity.
James I. issued a proclamation, in which the voters for members of
parliament are directed "not to choose curious and wrangling lawyers,
who seek reputation by stirring needless questions."
At the Sussex election, in 1807, an elector, named Morton, voted in
right of his patrimonial land at Rusper, which had been in possession
of his ancestors 750 years.