Corruption did whatever force failed to do: and from the Wars of the Roses to the days of Pitt the voice of the people had to be looked for not in the members for the towns but in the knights for the counties.
[Sidenote: Restriction of County Franchise] The restriction of the county franchise on the other hand was the direct work of the Parliament itself.

Economic changes were fast widening the franchise in the shires.

The number of freeholders increased with the subdivision of estates and the social changes which we have already noticed.

But this increase of independence was marked by "riots and divisions between the gentlemen and other people" which the statesmen of the day attributed to the excessive number of voters.

In many counties the power of the great lords undoubtedly enabled them to control elections through the number of their retainers.