The Charter, which formed the Corporation of Dublin,
was on the model of that " of our liege men of Bristol,"
and was granted in 1207 by King John ; and in both
cities the guilds of trades and artisans obtained the
Parliamentary franchise in the course of time, and
were enrolled in the ranks of their freemen. Pro-
testant ascendency, however, when it became supreme
in Ireland had its effects in this as in other things ;
and while Catholics were debarred from becoming
freemen, ingenious devices were employed to extend

lavishly the right to Protestants in order to maintain

235



236 MEMORIES AND THOUGHTS OF A LIFE

"the Protestant interest." The freemen of Dublin
became a very numerous body ; they comprised hun-
dreds of the best citizens ; but they also included a
considerable mass of traders and artisans of the very
lowest class, hardly different from the dregs of the
populace ; and this was accessible to bribery and in-
fluences of the kind. The scale at elections in
Dublin was often turned by this corrupt and worthless
body of men ; and the evidence of the methods by
which their votes were bought by candidates and their
agents was sometimes amusing, and would have
afforded a vein for the humour of Dickens. In some
instances hands were thrust into mysterious "holes
in a wall," and Were filled with sovereigns and bank
notes ; in others, treating went on wholesale, and
freemen voters, shouting for Orange Williarn — their
orthodox Protestantism had not died out — were
swept to the poll on a flood of whisky ; in many,
husbands and brothers were urged to the hustings
by wives and sisters who had been made safe by
secret largesses of cheap finery. The Commission
reported that corruption prevailed largely among the
freemen of Dublin, but Parliament has not proceeded
further ; and on the whole, it has perhaps been well
that this ancient franchise has not been abolished.
