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Elders, in the Presbyterian discipline, are officers, w!io, inconjunction with the ministers and deacons, compose the kirk-sessions, who formerly used to inspect and regulate matters of re-ligion and discipline ; blit whose principal business now is to takecare of the poor’s funds, which, it is but justice to say, they do allover Scotland with the utmost fidelity. They are chosen fromamong the people, and are received publicly with some degree ofceremony. In Scotland , there is an indefinite number of elders ineach parish; generally about 12.

ELEA, or ELIS, in ancient geography, a district of Pelopon-nesus, situated between Achaia and Messenia , reaching from Ar-cadia quite to the west or Ionian sea ; so called from the citv ofElis.

Elea, or Velia, an ancient town of the Lucani, where the Ele-atic philosophy was first taught.

ELEATIC PHILOSOPHY, among the ancients, a name given to that of the stoics, because taught at Idea.

Eleatic Sect. The founder of this sect of philosophers issupposed to have been Xenophanes , who lived about the 5(>thOlympiad, or about B. C. 550. It was divided into two par-ties, which may be denominated metaphysical and physical; theone rejecting, and the other approving, the appeal to fact and ex-periment. Of the former kind were Xenophanes, Parmenides ,Melissus, and Zeno of Elea . They are supposed to have main-tained principles similar to those of Spinoza : they held the eter-nity and immutability of the world; that whatever existed was onlyone being; that there was neither any generation nor corruption ;that this one being was immoveable, and immutable, and was thetrue God ; and whatever changes seemed to happen in the uni-verse, they considered as mere appearances and illusions of sense.However, some learned men have supposed, that Xenophanes andbis followers, speaking metaphysically, understood by the uni-verse, or the one being, not the material world, but the originatingprinciples of all things, or the true God , whom they expresslyatlirm to be incorporeal. Tims Simplicius represents them merelymetaphysical writers, who distinguished between things naturaland supernatural ; and who made the former to be compoundedof different principles. Accordingly, Xenophanes maintained,that the earth consisted of air and tire, that all things were pro-duced out of the earth, and the sun and stars out of clouds, andthat there were four elements. Parmenides also distinguished be-tween the doctrine concerning metaphysical object called truth,and that concerning physical or corporeal things, called opi-nion ; with respect to the former there was one Immoveableprinciple, but in the latter two that were moveable, viz. fireand earth, or heat and cold ; in which particulars Zeno agreedwith him. The other branch of the Eleatic sect were the atomicphilosophers, who formed their system from ail attention to thephxnomena of nature; of these the most considerable were Leu-cippus, Democritus, and Protagoras .

ELECAMPANE, in botany. Sec Inula.

ELECT, Ei.ecti, among ecclesiastical writers, those whomGod has chosen, or predestinated to be saved. See Predesti-nation .

Elect, in matters of polity, is applied to archbishops, and otherecclesiastic officers, who are chosen, but not yet consecrated ; asalso to secular officers before they are invested with their office orjurisdiction: thus the emperor is said to he elect, before he isinaugurated; and the lord mayor, before his predecessor’s mayor-alty is expired.

Election, a term frequently used in mathematics, to sig-nify the several different ways of taking any number of things pro-posed, either separately, or as combined in pairs, in threes, infours, &c. not as to the order, but only as to the number and Ivariety of them. Thus, of the things a, b, c, d, &c. the elections !One thing A C (a) 1 = 2 l — 1Two things a are <a, b,ab) 3 = 2’— 1Three things ) (a, h, c,ab, ac, be, abc) 7 = 2 3 — 1

And generally of any number n, all the elections are 2“ — 1 ; thatis one less than the power of 2, whose exponent is n, the numberof single tilings to be chosen either separately, or in combination;thus, when it = 12, the answer is 2 13 — 1 == 4096 — 1 = 4095.

Election, the choice that is made of a person, or thing, inpreference to any other; as in the election of an emperor, of apope, of a bishop, of members of parliament, &c.

Election, in law, is where a person has & choice of one or more

tilings which happen upon several occasions; as where he has bylaw two remedies, and must take only one: thus, a creditor, incases of bankruptcy, may either prove Ins debt under the commis-sion, or proceed at law; but in litis case he is compelled to makehis election: where also a person having obtained a judg< ment, isentitled to execution, lie may either take his remedy against thegoods or the person of his debtor; but if lie proved against theperson in the first instance, he cannot afterwards have recourse tothe goods; but if he take the goods, and these should be foundinadequate to bis demand, be may after wards take the body.

Election, in theology. See Predestination , and Grace.

Election, in British polity, is the people’s choice of their re-presentatives in parliament. See Parliament . In this consiststhe exercise of the deino< ratical part of our constitution: fi r in ademocracy there can be no exercise of sovereignty but by suffrage,which is the declaration of the people’s will. In all democracies,therefore, it is of the utmost importance to regulate by whom, andin w hat manner, the suffrages are to be given. And the Athenianswere so justly jealous of this prerogative, that a stranger, who in-terfered in the assemblies of the people, was punished w ith death,being esteemed guilty of high treason, by usurping those rights ofsovereignty to which he had no title. In Britain , says Blackstone,where the people do not debate in a collective body, but by repre-sentation, tlit: exercise of this sovereignty consists in the choice ofrepresentatives. 1 he laws have therefore very strictly guardedagainst the usurpation or abuse of this powr, by many salutaryprovisions; which may be reduced to these three points. 1. Thequalifications of the electors. 2. The qualifications of the elected.3. The proceedings at elections.

I. Election Laws as to the Qualifications of Elec-tors. The true reason of requiring any qualification, with regardto property, in voters, is to exclude such persons as are in so meana situation, that they are esteemed to have no will of their own.If these persons had votes, they would be tempted to dispose ofthem under some undue influence or other. This would give agreat, an artful, or a wealthy man, a larger share in elections Ulanis consistent with general liberty. If it were probable that everyman would give Ins vote freely, and without iniliience of any kind ;then, upon the true theory and genuine principles of liberty, everymember of the 'Community, however poor, should have a vole inelecting those delegates to whose charge is committed the dispo-sal of his property, his liberty, and his life.. But since that canhardly he expected in persons of indigent fortune-, or such as areunder the immediate dominion of others, all popular slates havebeen obliged to establish certain qualifications; whereby some,who arc suspected to have no w ill of their own, are excluded fromvoting, in order to set other individuals, whose will may be sup-posed independent, more thoroughly upon a level with each other.And this constitution of suffrages is trained upon a wiser principle,with us, than either of the methods of voting, by centimes or bytribes, among the Romans. In the method by centuries, insti-tuted bv Servius Tullus it was principally property, and not num-bers, that turned the scale; in the method by tribes, gradually in-troduced by the tribunes of the people, numbers only were re-garded, and property entirely overlooked. Hence the laws passedby the former method hail usually too great a tendency to aggran-dize the patricians or rich nobles ; and those by the latter had toomuch of a levelling principle. Our constitution steers betweenthe two extremes. Only such are entirely excluded as can haveno will of their own : there is hardly a tree agent to 1 found, butwhat is infilled to a vote in some place or other in the kingdom.N'or is comparative wealth, or property, entirely disregarded inelections; tor though the richest man has only one vote at oneplate, yet, if his property beat all diffused, he has probably a rightto vote at more places than one, and therefore has many repre-sentatives. 'I bis is the spirit of our constitution : not that we as-sert it is in fact quite so perfect as wc have endeavoured to de-scribe it; for if any alteration might be wished or suggested in thepresent form of parliament, it should be in favour of a niwre com-plete representation of the people. But to return to the qualifi-cations ; and first those of electors for knights of the shire, 1. By-statute 8 Hen. VI. c. 7. and 10 Hen . V I. c. 2. (amended by 14Geo. 11 f. c. 58.) the knights of the shire shall be chosen of people,whereof every man shall have freehold to the value of 40 shillingsby the year within the county ; which (by subsequent statutes) isto be clear of all charges anil deductions, except parliamentary