ix boroughs
were wholly disfranchised; those in which the population fell short of a
certain number (2000), and where the amount of assessed taxes paid by
the inhabitants was correspondingly small. Thirty more were deprived of
one of their members, being those in which the population was between
2000 and 4000. And the seats thus vacated were divided between the towns
which since the Revolution had gradually grown into importance, the
suburbs of the metropolis, and the counties, the majority of which were
now divided into two halves, each half returning two members, as many as
had previously represented the whole. The boundaries of the boroughs,
too, were in most cases extended.

More important, perhaps, in its influence on subsequent legislation was
the alteration made in the qualifications which constituted an elector.
Hitherto the franchise, the right of voting at elections, had been based
on property. The principle had not, indeed, been uniformly adhered to in
the boroughs, where, as Lord John Russell, in the speech with which he
introduced the bill, pointed out, a curious variety of courses had been
adopted. "In some," as he described the existing practice, "the
franchise was exercised by 'a select corporation;' that is to say, it
was in the possession of a small number of persons, to the exclusion of
the great body of the inhabitants who had property and interest in the
place represented. In ancient times, he believed, every freeman, being
an inhabitant householder resident in the borough, was competent to
vote. As, however, this arrangement excluded villeins and strangers, the
franchise always belonged to a particular body in every town--a body
undoubtedly possessed of property, for they bore the charges of their
members, and on them were assessed the subsidies and taxes voted by
Parliament. But when villeinage ceased, various and opposite courses
seemed to have been pursued in different boroughs. In some, adopting the
liberal principle that all freemen were to be admitted, householders of
all kinds, down to the lowest degree, and even sometimes beyond, were
admitted. In others, adopting the exclusive principle that villeins and
strangers were no part of the burgesses, new corporations were erected,
and the elective franchise was more or less confined to a select body."
But all these diversities and varieties were now swept away, and a
uniform franchise was established, all tenants whose rent amounted to
L10 recei