luous here to repeat the story of the rise of the
boroughs, whose gradual acquisition of charters, with privileges and
powers of various degrees, has been sufficiently investigated by
Hallam.[237] What the Parliament had now to deal with was the way in
which the system worked in the nineteenth century; and here it must be
confessed that the report of the commissioners, severe as it was, did in
no degree exaggerate the prevailing evils. The corporations had
gradually become self-elected oligarchies of the worst kind. It must be
admitted that, in perverting their authority to political purposes, they
might plead the excuse that they were but following the example set them
by the ministers of William III., who introduced into their bill for
restoring the corporations which James II. had suppressed clauses
manifestly intended to preserve the ascendency of the Whig party, "by
keeping the Church or Tory faction out of"[238] them. But no such
palliation (if, indeed, that had any right to be called a palliation)
could be alleged for their abuse of the trusts committed to them; abuse
which, if committed by single individuals, would have been branded, and
perhaps punished, as malversation and fraud of the deepest dye. A
sufficient specimen of the kind and extent of their misdeeds in one
branch of their duties was afforded by a single paragraph of Lord John
Russell's speech, in which he affirmed that, in some of the reports of
their management of charitable estates committed to their care, it was
proved that "the property, instead of being employed for the general
benefit of the town, had been consumed for the partial benefit of a few
individuals, and not unfrequently in the feastings and entertainments in
which the mayor and other corporators had been in the habit of
indulging. In some not very large boroughs these expenses had amounted
to L500 and L600 a year; and the enjoyment had been confined to freemen
of only one party." And the perpetuity of this mismanagement was in most
instances secured by the members of the corporation themselves electing
their new colleagues on the occasion of any vacancy.

To put an end to this discreditable state of affairs, the government had
prepared a very sweeping scheme of reform, though that it was not too
sweeping was proved by the approval with which not only its principle
but most of its details were received by the greater part of the
Opposition; the leading principle being, to quote the wo