It was to no purpose that Burke argued with more than legal closeness that Incapacitation could not be a power according to law, inasmuch as it had neither of the two properties of law: it was not known, "you yourselves not knowing upon what grounds you will vote the incapacity of any man;" and it was not fixed, because it was varied according to the occasion, exercised according to discretion, and no man could call for it as a right.
"Burke"
John Morley
"If a few precedents were to determine all controversies of constitutional law, it is plain enough from the journals that the House has assumed the power of Incapacitation.
"The Constitutional History of England From 1760 to 1860"
Charles Duke Yonge
If they suffer this power of arbitrary Incapacitation to stand, they have utterly perverted every other power of the House of Commons.
"The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12)"
Edmund Burke