«История парламентских выборов и предвыборной борьбы в старые времена»

Электронная книга Проекта Гутенберг «История парламентских выборов и предвыборной борьбы в старые времена» Джозефа Грего

Note:

Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive/American Libraries. See

https://archive.org/details/historyofparliam00greg

«ПРАВА ЖЕНЩИН» или ПОСЛЕДСТВИЯ ПРЕДОСТАВЛЕНИЯ ЖЕНЩИНАМ ИЗБРАНИТЕЛЬНЫХ ПРАВ

ИСТОРИЯ ПАРЛАМЕНТСКИХ ВЫБОРОВ И ПРЕДВЫБОРНОЙ БОРЬБЫ В СТАРЫЕ ВРЕМЕНА С УКАЗАНИЕМ СОСТОЯНИЯ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ ПАРТИЙ И ПАРТИЙНОЙ БОРЬБЫ НА ИЗБРАНИТЕЛЬНЫХ ТРИБУНАХ (ХАСТИНГСАХ) И В ПАЛАТЕ ОБЩИН ОТ СТЬЮАРТОВ ДО КОРОЛЕВЫ ВИКТОРИИ КАНДИДАТЫ, ОБРАЩАЮЩИЕСЯ К СВОИМ ИЗБИРАТЕЛЯМ. ИЛЛЮСТРИРОВАНО ПО ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИМ ПАМФЛЕТАМ, ПАСКВИЛЯМ, САТИРИЧЕСКИМ КАРТИНАМ И ПОПУЛЯРНЫМ КАРИКАТУРАМ ТОГО ВРЕМЕНИ АВТОРА «ДЖЕЙМС ДЖИЛРЕЙ, КАРИКАТУРИСТ: ЕГО ЖИЗНЬ, ТВОРЧЕСТВО И ЭПОХА», «РОУЛАНДСОН, КАРИКАТУРИСТ: ЕГО ЖИЗНЬ, ЭПОХА И ТВОРЧЕСТВО» И ДР. Лондон ЧАТТО И УИНДУС, ПИККАДИЛИ 1886 [ Право перевода сохраняется ]

“I think the Tories love to buy

‘Your Lordships’ and ‘Your Graces,’

By loathing common honesty,

And lauding commonplaces....

I think the Whigs are wicked Knaves

(And very like the Tories)

Who doubt that Britain rules the waves,

And ask the price of glories.”

У. М. Прад (1826).

“A friend to freedom and freeholders—yet

No less a friend to government—he held

That he exactly the just medium hit

’Twixt place and patriotism; albeit compell’d,

Such was his sovereign’s pleasure (though unfit,

He added modestly, when rebels rail’d),

To hold some sinecures he wish’d abolish’d,

But that with them all law would be demolish’d.”

Лорд Байрон.

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ.

Вне зависимости от политических партий все мы заинтересованы в том важном национальном первородном праве, каковое представляет собой надлежащее представительство народа. Общепризнанно, что важнейшим элементом парламентов — специально избираемых для воплощения коллективной мудрости нации — является законный метод их формирования. При наличии неограниченных избирательных прав закономерным результатом становится представительная Палата общин; противоположное происходит при вмешательстве в избирательное право и развращении электората. Последствия подкупа, запугивания, ненадлежащего влияния, принуждения со стороны Короны или ее ответственных советников, обширной системы личного покровительства, торговли голосами в местечках, закрытых или карманных местечек и всех тех недозволенных ухищрений прошлого, призванных стеснять народный выбор представителей, неизбежно порождали более или менее коррумпированный законодательный орган, о чем свидетельствует история. Какими бы скверными ни были результаты работы избирательной системы до наступления парламентской реформы, о мужественном характере британских избирателей и их представителей красноречиво говорит то обстоятельство, что столь низменно сформированные парламенты в целом были довольно честными и вовсе не чуждыми тем свободам подданных, поддерживать которые они предполагаемо избирались; и когда признаки коррупции в Палате общин становились очевидными, вырождение не терпели долго, поскольку национальный дух был достаточно силен, чтобы сокрушить грозящие беды и вернуть дела в более здоровое русло.

Обширная тема парламентских выборов богата интересом и занимательными деталями; история возникновения, хода и развития сложного искусства предвыборной борьбы настоятельно рекомендуется вниманию всех, кто интересуется чертами, неотделимыми от той конституции, которую превозносили как образец для подражания другими нациями. Яркие национальные особенности, окружавшие в минувшие дни различные этапы парламентских выборов — института сугубо британского, в коем соотечественники наши чувствовали себя увереннее всех прочих, — ныне благодаря усовершенствованной процедуре выборов преданы забвению в лимбе прошлого, тогда как хроники предвыборной борьбы существуют лишь в виде современных преданиям.

Под воздействием смягчающего влияния прогресса и более продвинутой цивилизации может настать время, когда рассказ о бурных сценах агитации, голосования, торжественных шествий в кресле и предвыборных пиров с сопутствующими им инцидентами всеобщего подкупа, буйства и интриг будут воспринимать с недоверием как вымысел невозможной эпохи.

Была предпринята попытка осветить главные особенности наиболее примечательных предвыборных состязаний с того времени, когда места стали добиваться, вплоть до сравнительно недавних дней. «Расточительные выборы», примечательные в анналах парламентской и партийной борьбы, изложены вместе с подборкой литературы, памфлетов, баллад и летучих листков, порожденных ими. Иллюстрации отобраны из сатирических картинок, созданных современниками в ходе самых знаменитых электоральных баталий. Материалы, как литературные, так и графические, изобилуют, но разрознены; есть надежда, что усилия автора по приведению этих ресурсов в рамки одного тома доставят терпеливой публике и развлечение, и просвещение.

СОДЕРЖАНИЕ.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

The assembling of parliaments—Synopsis of parliamentary history—Orders for the attendance of members—Qualifications for the franchise: burgesses, burgage-tenures, scot and lot, pot-wallopers, faggot-votes, splitting—Disqualifications: alms, charity, “faggots,” “occasionality”—Election of knights of the shire, and burgesses—Outlines of an election in the Middle Ages—Queen Elizabeth and her faithful Commons—An early instance of buying a seat in the Commons—Returns vested in the municipal corporations; “Money makes the mayor to go”—Privileges of parliament—“Knights girt with a sword”—Inferior standing of the citizens and burgesses sent to Parliament—Reluctance of early constituencies to sending representatives to parliament—Paid members—Members chosen and nominated by the “great families”—The Earl of Essex nominating his partisans and servants—Exemption from sending representatives to the Commons esteemed a privilege—The growth of legislative and electoral independence—The beginning of “contested elections”—Coercion at elections—Lords-lieutenant calling out the train-bands for purposes of intimidation—Early violence—Nugæ Antiquæ; the election of a Harrington for Bath, 1658-9; the present of a horse to paid members—The method of election for counties, cities, and boroughs—Relations of representatives with their constituents—The “wages” of members of parliament—“Extracts from the Proceedings of Lynn Regis”—An account rendered to the burgesses—The civil wars—Peers returned for the Commons in the Long Parliament after the abolition of the House of Lords. 1

CHAPTER II.

Influence of administration under Charles I.—Ballad on the Commonwealth—House of Commons: “A General Sale of Rebellious Household Stuff”—The Parliament under the Restoration—Pepys and Prynne on the choosing of “knights of the shire”—Burgesses sent up at the discretion of the sheriffs—The king’s writ—Evils attending the cessation of wages to parliamentary representatives—Andrew Marvell’s ballad on a venal House of Commons—The parliament waiting on the king—Charles II.

and his Commons—“Royal Resolutions,” and disrespect for the Commons—The Earl of Rochester on Charles II.’s parliament—Interference in elections—Independence of legislators versus paid members—The Peers as “born legislators and councillors”—“The Pensioner Parliament” coincident with the remission of salaries to members of the Commons—“An Historical Poem,” by Andrew Marvell—Andrew Marvell as a paid member; his kindly relations with his Hull constituents—Writ for recovering arrears of parliamentary wages—Uncertainty of calling another parliament—The Duke of Buckingham’s intrigues with the Roundheads; his “Litany”—Degradation of parliament—Parody of the king’s speech—Relations of Charles II. and his Commons—Summary of Charles II.’s parliaments—Petitioners, addressers, and Abhorrers—The right of petitioning the throne—The Convention Parliament—The Long Cavalier Parliament—The Pensioner Parliament and the statute against corruption—“The Chequer Inn”—“The Parliament House to be let”—The Habeas Corpus Parliament—The country preparing for Charles II.’s fourth parliament—Election ballads: “The Poll,”—Origin of the factions of Whigs and Tories—Whig and Tory ballads—“A Tory in a Whig’s Coat”—“A Litany from Geneva,” in answer to “A Litany from St. Omer”—The Oxford Parliament of eight days—“The Statesman’s Almanack”—A group of parliamentary election ballads, 1679-80—Ballad on the Essex petitions—The Earl of Shaftesbury’s “Protestant Association”—“A Hymn exalting the Mobile to Loyalty”—The Buckingham ballad—Bribery by Sir Richard “Timber” Temple—The Wiltshire ballad—“Old Sarum”—Petitions against prerogative—The royal pretensions to absolute monarchy—The “Tantivies,” or upholders of absolute kingly rights over Church and State—“Plain Dealing; or, a Dialogue between Humphrey and Roger, as they were returning home from choosing Knights of the Shire to sit in Parliament, 1681;” “Hercules Rideing”—“A Speech without-doors, made by a Plebeian to his Noble Friends”—Philippe de Comines on the British Constitution—On freedom of speech—A true Commonwealth—The excited state of parties at the summoning of the Oxford Parliament, 1681—Ballads on the Oxford Parliament—The impeachment of Fitz-Harris, and the proposal of the opposition to exclude the Duke of York from the “Protestant succession”—Squabble on privilege between the Peers and Commons—The Oxford Parliament dismissed, after eight days, on this pretence—“The Ghost of the Late Parliament to the New One to meet at Oxford”—“On Parliament removing from London to Oxford”—“On his Majesty’s dissolving the late Parliament at Oxford”—A “Weeked” Parliament. 22

CHAPTER III.

Electioneering on the accession of James II.—A parliament summoned by James II.—The municipal charters restored in the nature of bribes—Lord Bath, “the Prince Elector,” and his progress in the west—Electioneering strategies—How Sir Edward Evelyn was unjustly cozened out of his election—The constitution of James II.’s Parliament—Inferior persons “of no account whatever” chosen to sit in the Commons—The question of supplies, the royal revenue, and prerogative—Assembling of James II.’s parliament—The

corrupt returns boldly denounced—Violence at the elections—The abdication of James II., and the “Convention Parliament”—Accession of the Prince of Orange—Ballad “On the Calling of a Free Parliament, Jan. 15, 1678-9”—Ballads on William III.’s Parliament: “The Whigs’ Address to his Majesty,” 1689; “The Patriots,” 1700—An election under William III., for the City of London—“The Election, a Poem,” 1701; the electors, the Guildhall, the candidates; Court-schemers versus patriotic representatives; and “the liberties of the people” versus the “surrendered Charters”—Electioneering under Queen Anne—The High Church party—“The University Ballad; or, the Church’s Advice to her Two Daughters, Oxford and Cambridge,” 1705—Whigs and “Tackers”—The Nonconformity Bill—Mother Church promises to “wipe the Whigs’ nose”—The “case of Ashby and White,” and the dispute thereon between the Lords and Commons—Breaches of privilege—“Jacks,” “Tacks,” and the “Occasional Conformity Bill”—Ballad: “The Old Tack and the New,” 1712—The Act against bribery—Past-masters of the art of electioneering—Thomas, Marquis of Wharton; his election feats, and genius for canvassing-Election, 1705—“Dyer’s Letters”—Reception of a High Church “Tantivy” candidate—Discomfiture of the “Sneakers”—Lord Woodstock’s electioneering ruse at Southampton, 1705—“For the Queen and Church, Packington”—Dean Swift on election disturbances in Queen Anne’s reign—Sir Richard Steele’s mishap when a candidate for election—Steele’s parliamentary career—“The Englishman” and “The Crisis”—Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, an accomplished hand at electioneering—Her ruse against Lord Grimston—“Love in a Hollow Tree”—Dr. Johnson on scandals revived at election-time—Failure of the High Church party to bring in the Chevalier—The accession of George I., and the Tory discomfiture—“The Whigs’ answer to the Tories”—The Jacobite and Hanoverian factions—Ballads upon “Nancy,” “the Chevalier,” and George of Hanover, 1716—The disaffected and their hatred to Sir Robert Walpole—Ballad: “King James’s Declaration”—The abortive Jacobite rising in 1715—Ballad: “The Right and True History of Perkin”—The end of Perkin’s attempt. 56

CHAPTER IV.

Sir Robert Walpole “chaired” on his election for Castle Rising, 1701—“Robin’s Progress”—Walpole in Parliament—His offices—Impeached by the Commons for corruption on the death of George, Prince of Denmark—Returned for King’s Lynn—Firmly established in power on the accession of George I.—“A Tory Bill of Costs for an Election in the West, 1715”—The Septennial Act, 1716—The elections of 1721—Walpole’s “universal salve”—“The Election carried by Bribery and the Devil,” 1721—Municipal corruption—Ballad: “Here’s a Minion sent down to a Corporate Town”—The elections of 1727—“Ready Money, the Prevailing Candidate; or, the Humours of an Election,” 1727—“No bribery, but pockets are free”—Ballad: “The Laws against Bribery Provision may make”—“The Kentish Election, 1734”—“The Country Interest” versus “the Protestant Interest”—Vane and Dering versus Middlesex and Oxenden—Vane’s treat to his

electors—Walpole paraded in effigy—Hogarth’s design on the election of 1734: Sir Robert Fagg—“The Humours of a Country Election,” 1734—The first suggestion for Hogarth’s series of four election prints—Plays, operas, and poems on elections—The oath imposed upon electors—“A New-year’s Gift to the Electors of Great Britain,” 1741—“The flood of corruption”—Walpole, as “The Devil upon Two Sticks,” carried through the “Slough of Despond,” 1741—“A Satire on Election Proceedings,” dedicated to “Mayors and Corporations in general,” 1741—Walpole’s lease of power threatened—Satirical version of Walpole’s “Coat of Arms”—The Westminster election of 1741—Wager and Sundon versus Vernon and Edwin—A patriotic “Address to the Independent and Worthy Electors” of Westminster, 1741—Royal canvassers—“Scene at the Westminster Election,” 1741—Lord Sundon calls in the grenadiers to close the poll—The Westminster Petition, 1741—A new election—Wager and Sundon unseated; Edwin and Percival returned—Admiral Vernon and Porto Bello—“The Funeral of Independency,” 1741—“The Triumph of Justice,” 1741—Walpole defeated—“The Banner of Liberty displayed,” 1741—A ministerial mortification—Ballads upon the Westminster election of 1741—“The Independent Westminster Electors’ Toast”—“The Downfall of Sundon and Wager”—“The Independent Westminster Choice”—“The True English-Boys’ Song to Vernon’s Glory”—Triumph of the “Country party” or “Patriots”—“The Body of Independent Electors of Westminster” constituted into a society—Their anniversary dinners—A dinner-ticket, 1744—The Stuart rising of 1745—Lord Lovat’s trial—Meeting of “The Independent Electors of the City and Liberty of Westminster” at Vintners’ Hall, March, 1747—Jacobite toasts—“The Spy detected:” ejectment of a ministerial spy from Vintners’ Hall—The state of parties at the Westminster election, 1747—Earl Gower and his son, Lord Trentham—Falling-off of the Independent party—Trentham and Warren versus Clarges and Dyke—“The Two-Shilling Butcher,” 1747—The Duke of Cumberland and the Prince of Wales as rival canvassers—The Duke of Bedford’s support of Lord Trentham—“The Jaco-Independo-Rebello-Plaido”—“The Humours of the Westminster Election; or, the Scald Miserable Independent Electors in the Suds,” 1747—Jacobite vagaries—“Great Britain’s Union; or, the Litchfield Races,” 1747—The Jacobite rebellion—Political animosities carried on to the race-course—Alternate Whig and Tory race meetings—The Duke of Bedford horsewhipped at the Litchfield races on Whittington Heath—Ballad on the fracas: “The Lords’ Lamentation; or, the Whittington Defeat,” 1747—Trentham versus Vandeput, 1749—The fracas at the Haymarket Theatre—Frenchified Lord Trentham’s deadly attack on his own electors—Gallic valour and the Admiralty Board—Ballad: “Peg Trim Tram in the Suds; or, No French Strollers,” 1749—“Britannia Disturbed, or an Invasion by French Vagrants, addressed to the Worthy Electors of the City of Westminster,” 1749—Violence and bribery—“Aux Electeurs très dignes de Westminster”—The Duke of Bedford’s oppression and injustice to his tenants—Hogarth’s print of “A Country Inn-yard at the Time of an Election,” 1747—The Hon. John Child—“No Old Baby.” 78

CHAPTER V.

The Pelham Administration—Corruption rife—“The Duke of Newcastle as the Complete Vermin-Catcher of Great Britain; or, the Old Trap new baited,” 1754—Ministerial bribes and baits—Boroughmongering—“Dissection of a Dead Member (of Parliament)”—A mass of corruption—Henry Pelham’s measures—The Jews’ Naturalization Bill, 1753—Death of Pelham—“His Arrival at his Country Retirement and Reception,” 1754—Pelham’s reception across the Styx—The elections of 1754—Humours of canvassing—The election for the City of London: “The Liveryman’s Levee,” 1754—“The City Up and Down; or, the Candidates Pois’d,” 1754—City candidates: Sir John Barnard, Slingsby Bethell, William Beckford, Sir Richard Glyn, Sir Robert Ladbroke, Sir Crispe Gascoyne, and Sir William Calvert—Sir Sampson Gideon, the loan contractor, and “The Jews’ Naturalization Bill”—“A Stir in the City; or, Some Folks at Guildhall,” 1754—Ballad on the City election at the Guildhall—“The Parliamentary Race; or, the City Jockies,” 1754—Ballad on “The Parliamentary Race for the City”—The London and Oxfordshire elections—“All the World in a Hurry; or, the Road from London to Oxford,” 1754—Ballad on “The London Election”—The Oxford Election; Candidates: Wenham and Dashwood versus Turner and Parker—Ballad on the Oxford election—The four election pictures by William Hogarth having reference to the county election for Oxfordshire, 1754—“The Election Entertainment”—Humours of an election feast—“The low habits of venal wretches”—“The New Interest” versus “The Old Interest”—Election party cries in 1754: “Give us our eleven days”—Ballad on alteration in the style—Party animosities—“Act against Bribery”—“Kirton’s Best”—“Canvassing for Votes,” 1754—“Punch, Candidate for Guzzledown”—“The Royal Oak” versus “The Crown,” otherwise “The Excise Office”—“The Polling Booth,” Oxfordshire, 1754—Ballad on the humours of polling—“Chairing the Members,” 1754—Burlesque on Bubb Dodington—The dangers of chairing—A ministerial dinner, 1754—Hogarth’s sketches of “Bubb Dodington and the Earl of Winchilsea”—Murderous incidents of the Oxfordshire election—Wrecking houses—Parliamentary interest versus place—Hawking “marketable ware”—Diary of Bubb Dodington (Lord Melcombe Regis)—Overtures from the Pelhams—Bubb’s “parliamentary interest”—A prime minister—“Bubbling” a boroughmonger—The intriguer over-matched—The Bridgwater Election, 1754—Details of an election contest in 1754, from Dodington’s diary—The Duke of Newcastle, an arch-negotiator—Bubb and his “parliamentary interest” bought for nothing—The vitiating effects of bribery and corruption on a representative legislature—“Burning a Prime Minister in Effigy,” 1756—Denunciations against venal ministers and the vital injuries they inflict on the constitution. 125

CHAPTER VI.

John Wilkes, the pseudo “Champion of Liberty”—W. Hogarth as a partisan—His attack on Wilkes and Churchill, the North Briton, 45—Hogarth’s unfortunate political satires—“The Times,” Plate I.,

1762—Lord Bute as Hogarth’s patron—“The Epistle to Hogarth,” by Churchill—“The Times,” Plate II., withheld from publication; given to the public in 1790—The demagogue tried in court at Westminster—Hogarth’s print of “John Wilkes, a patriot”—The North Briton, No. 45—Severe animadversions on Hogarth by Wilkes and Churchill—The “Bruiser,” Charles Churchill, by Hogarth—His reprisal—Hogarth, Wilkes, and Churchill: “A Bear Leader”—Wilkes’s illegal imprisonment on “a general warrant”—Wilkes in the Tower—“A Safe Place,” 1763—“Daniel cast into the Den of Lions; or, True Blue will never stain,” 1763—Wilkes set at liberty—His appearance in parliament, and duel—Wilkes absconds to Paris—Is outlawed for contempt of court—Returns from Paris, and contests the City of London at the general election, 1768—The City candidates—The nomination—The poll—Wilkes at the bottom of the poll—The adulation of the mob—Wilkes’s letter to the king—His submission to the Treasury—Wilkes a candidate for the county of Middlesex—“The Return of Liberty,” and “Liberty revived”—The Brentford election—Violent conduct of the “Wilkes and Liberty” mob—Candidates for Middlesex—“No. 45 N.B.”—Wilkes returned for Middlesex—Dr. Franklin on “Wilkes and the Brentford election”—“John Wilkes elected Knight of the Shire for Middlesex, March 28, 1768, by the Free Voice of the People”—More of the “Wilkes and Liberty” riots—The mob in London—Universal turbulence—The attack on the Mansion House—“The Laird of the Boot”—“The Rape of the Petticoat”—Lord Bute and the Princess of Wales—The Oxford Magazine on the valour of the Lord Mayor—The view taken by the Political Register—Ballad on Lord Mayor Harley’s seizure of the “Boot and Petticoat”—Surrender of Wilkes—Released by the rabble—His second surrender—“The Scot’s Triumph; or, a Peep behind the Curtain”—Wilkes a prisoner in the King’s Bench—The Wilkes riots in St. George’s Fields—Southwark in a state of siege—The military under arms—Wilkes’s address from the King’s Bench Prison, “To the Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders of the County of Middlesex”—The mob demonstration outside the King’s Bench on the opening of parliament—The Riot Act read—The massacre of St. George’s Fields—The case of William Allen, deliberately assassinated—“The Scotch Victory; murder of Allen by a Grenadier.—St. George’s Fields, 1768”—The ministerial approval of the butcheries by the soldiers—Justice Gillam—The circumstances of the riot—The soldiers tried—The murderer shielded from justice; his escape, and subsequent pension—Horne Tooke as a witness—He brings the guilty to justice—The defence by the Government—“The Operation,” 1768—“Murder screened and rewarded” 157

CHAPTER VII.

Death of Cooke, Tory member for Middlesex, 1768—A fresh election—Serjeant Glynn, Wilkes’s advocate, a Radical candidate for the vacant seat; opposed by Sir W. Beauchamp Proctor—Proctor’s mob of hired ruffians—“The Hustings at Brentford, Middlesex Election”, 1768—Prize-fighters employed to terrorize the electors—Dastardly attack on the hustings—Glynn’s “Letter to the Freeholders of Middlesex”—Proctor’s repudiation of the charge of

“hiring banditti”—Horne Tooke’s “Philippic” to Proctor—The true facts of the case—The circumstantial account given in the Oxford Magazine—The rioters beaten off—Electioneering manœuvres: summoning electors as jurymen—The bruisers recognized—Broughton engaged as generalissimo of the forces—An expensive contest—Glynn’s letter of acknowledgment to his constituents—The “Parson of Brentford”—Poetical tributes to Horne Tooke—Results of the injuries inflicted by the hired ruffians: Death of Clarke—“The Present State of Surgery; or, Modern Practice,” 1769—Trial of Clarke’s murderers—The bruisers defended by the ministers—Found guilty, and sentenced to transportation, but receive a royal pardon and pensions for life—Partial conduct and verdict of the College of Surgeons—“A Consultation of Surgeons”—The petitions and remonstrances addressed to the Throne—Colonel Luttrell sent to parliament, though not duly elected, to represent Middlesex in place of Wilkes—An unconstitutional vote of the Commons: “296 votes preferred to 1143”—Lord Bacon on the lawful power of Parliaments—The Crown and its advisers, and the odium attaching to their unconstitutional proceedings—Servile addresses—The loyal address from the “Essex Calves”—“The Essex Procession from Chelmsford to St. James’s Market for the Good of the Common-Veal,” 1769—Charles Dingley, “the projector”—The bogus city address—“The Addressers”—The fracas at the King’s Arms, Cornhill—A battle-royal—“The Battle of Cornhill,” 1769—Administrative bribes of preference “Lottery Tickets”—“The Inchanted Castle; or, King’s Arms in an Uproar,” 1769—Walpole’s account of the procession—“The Principal Merchants and Traders assembled at the Merchant Seamen’s Office to sign ye Address”—“Epistle to the North Briton,” 1769—The “Abhorrers” of Charles II.’s reign revived—The Administration arraigned with their crimes—Address of the Quakers to James II.—“The conduct of ninety-nine in a hundred of the people of England ‘Abhorred’”—The loyal address forwarded to St. James’s Palace—“The Battle of Temple Bar,”—The addressers routed—“Sequel to the Battle of Temple Bar: Presentation of the Loyal Address at St. James’s Palace,” 1769—The fight at Palace Yard—“The Hearse,” and Lord Mountmorres—The lost Address recovered—Account of the procession from the Political Register—The Town and Country Magazine—A royal proclamation against the rioters: Gazette Extraordinary—“The Gotham Addressers: or, a Peep at the Hearse”—“A Dialogue between the Two Heads on Temple Bar,” 1769 178

CHAPTER VIII.

More petitions and remonstrances to the king—Petition of the Livery of London—The king’s advisers denounced by the citizens—An arraignment of ministerial crimes and misdemeanours—Undue prerogative and its abuses—The alienation of our colonies, and the consequent loss of America—The king’s contemptuous reception of the city petition—Disrespect shown to the corporation at the Court of St. James’s—Threatening attitude of the military—An unscrupulous and tyrannical ministry—A poetical petition—The king visits the city petition with “severe censure”—A

more stringent remonstrance prepared—The violated “right of election”—An unrepresentative parliament—“The true spirit of parliaments”—“The constitution depraved”—The Coronation Oath violated—The king’s answer, condemning the former petition, and the city remonstrance—“Nero fiddled while Rome was burning”—Further popular agitations—Horne Tooke’s “Address to the Freeholders of the county of Middlesex”—“The Middlesex Address, Remonstrance and Petition”—“Constitutional liberties attacked in the most vital part”—“A self-elected and irresponsible Parliament”—The petitions from Middlesex and Kent received at St. James’s in silence—The Westminster remonstrance—Corrupt administration of the House of Commons—The king prayed to dissolve a parliament no longer representing the people—The right of petitioning impeached by the Commons—The king replies that “he will lay the remonstrance before parliament”—“Making a man judge in his own trial”—The undignified reception of the Westminster remonstrance—Parliamentary counter-petitions at the bidding of corrupt ministers—The city vote of thanks to Lord Chatham, for his patriotic “zeal for the rights of the people”—The king’s answer considered at a general assembly of the citizens—Alderman Wilkes on the violation of the rights of election and of the constitution—The recorder characterises the remonstrance as a libel—The conduct of ministers in the case of Colonel Luttrell’s election—A fuller remonstrance from the city—The results of the Revolution of 1788 contravened—The king’s answer—Beckford requests leave to reply—His dignified speech to the king—The king remains silent—“Nero did not fiddle while Rome was burning”—The courtiers abashed—The king prorogues parliament with an address approving of the conduct of both Houses—The citizens eventually triumph in “the cause of Liberty and of the Constitution”—Lord Chatham’s eulogium pronounced upon the “patriotic spirit of the metropolis”—Beckford and Chatham, the champions of popular rights—The national importance of their conduct at this crisis of our history—Civic honours paid to Beckford—His speech to the king inscribed on the monument erected to his memory in the Guildhall—The corrupt ministers cowed—An uncontested election for Westminster, 1770—Sir Robert Bernard’s nomination—His election, without expense or disorder—Speeches of Sir J. Hussey Delaval and Earl Mountmorres on the late conduct of the Government—The advantages of leaving the people to the legitimate exercise of their liberties, uninfluenced by the administrative interest, corruption, and undue influence, the usual features at an election. 207

CHAPTER IX.

“The Spendthrift Election,” Northampton, 1768—Expensive contests, the defeated men appearing in the Gazette—Colchester; Hampshire—Three noble patrons adversaries at Northampton: the Earls of Halifax, Northampton, and Spencer—Open-house at ancestral seats—The “perdition of Horton”—The petition and scrutiny on the Northampton election—The event referred to chance—Cost of the contest—The results of the reckless expenditure upon the fortunes of the patrons—Sir Francis Delaval at Andover, 1768—His attorney’s bill: item, “to being Thrown out of window, £500”—Reckoning without the host—An hospitable entertainment—Returning

thanks—The Mayor versus the Colonel—“Sir Jeffery Dunstan’s Address to the Electors of Garratt,” 1774: a parody upon election manifestoes-“Lord Shiner’s Appeal to the Electors of Garratt”—Bribery at elections, and “controverted election petitions”—Various methods of acquiring “Parliamentary interest”—Boroughs cultivated for the market, like other saleable commodities—Patronage—Buying up burgage-tenures—Recognized prices of votes—The Ilchester tariff—“Dispensers of seats”—Lord Chesterfield’s experience of borough-jobbing—The seven electors of Old Sarum—Typical sinks of corruption—Boroughbridge, Yorkshire—“The last of the Boroughbridges”—A solitary franchise-holder; one man returning two representatives—The bribery scrutiny, Hindon, 1774—203 bribed electors out of a constituency of 210—Wholesale corruption—Bribing candidates committed to the King’s Bench—A fine of “a thousand marks”—Boroughmongering at Milborne Port—Lord North’s agent—A wholesale purchase of “bailiwicks”—Supineness of the Commons and ministerial influence—Corrupt bargains ignored by the House—Illegal interference of peers and lords of parliament in elections; Westminster election, 1774—“Money, meat, drink, entertainment or provision”—The partiality of persons in power manifested at “election bribery commissions”—The “king’s menial servants disqualified”—“Direct solicitation of the peers”—Worcester, 1774, wholesale swearing-in of electors as special constables—Convenient formula for defeating evidence of bribery before the House—High-Sheriffs returning themselves, Abingdon, 1774—The instance of Sir Edward Coke—“The sheriff in no respect the returning officer for boroughs”—The election made void by the sheriff returning himself—Morpeth, 1774—An election determined by main force—The candidate forcibly returning “himself and friend”—A “bribing” candidate preferred to a “main-force” candidate—Petersfield, Hants—The Shaftesbury “Punch,”—Pantomimic method of distributing bribes—The mysterious “Glenbucket”—Sudbury, 1780—A wager on the result of a controverted petition—A mayor insisting upon carrying on an election all night—The Shaftesbury “Punch” outdone by the Shoreham “Christian Society”—A well-organized scheme for “burgessing business”—The “Society” a “heap of bribery”—Stafford, 1780; The price paid by R. B. Sheridan for his seat—Tom Sheridan a candidate for Stafford, on his father’s retirement, 1806—The successful candidate for Stafford presented with a new hat at the hustings, by a subscription of his constituents—“A Mob-Reformer,” 1780—The first entry into public life of William Pitt—“The spirit of the country in 1780”—Pitt seated for Appleby, one of Sir James Lowther’s pocket-boroughs—Pitt’s early political friends: the Duke of Rutland and Lord Euston—Pitt’s letter to his mother, Lady Chatham, on his coming election—No necessity to visit constituencies—Choice of seats offered to the young premier, 1784—Nominated for the City of London—Invited to stand for Bath, represented by his late father Earl Chatham—Pitt returned for the University of Cambridge, 1784, which he represented till his death—The dissolution delayed by the theft of the Great Seal from the Chancellor’s residence, 1784—Pitt’s letter to Wilberforce on the coming elections—Pitt “a hardened electioneerer”—The war carried into the great Whig strongholds—The subscription to forward Wilberforce’s return for Yorkshire—Earl Stanhope on “Fox’s Martyrs”—Fox’s courage under adversity—Wilkes returned as the ministerial representative for Middlesex—Wilkes’s

“address to the electors”—“The Back-stairs Scoured”—“The boldest of bilks”—“Reconciliation of the Two Kings of Brentford,” 1784—“The New Coalition,” 1784—Charles James Fox’s first entry into public life—Returned for Midhurst, 1769—His first speech on the Wilkes case—Wilkes at a levée: he denounces to the king his friend Glynn as a “Wilkite”—Canvass of Pitt’s friends—The poet Cowper’s description of Pitt’s cousin, the Hon. W. W. Grenville, seeking for suffrages—The amenities of canvassing in the old days: saluting the ladies and maids—A most loving, kissing, kind-hearted gentleman—W. W. Grenville and John Aubrey returned for Buckinghamshire, 1784 226

CHAPTER X.

The Great Westminster election of 1784—Wilkes’s famous election contest for Middlesex dwarfed by comparison-State of political excitement—Relations of parties in the Commons—Fox’s India Bill—“Carlo Khan”—Downfall of the Coalition Ministry—Pitt made premier by the will of the king—“Back-stair influence,” and Court intrigues—“The royal finger”—Hostility of the East India Company against Fox—An administration called to power with a working minority—Defeated on division—Vote of want of confidence—The House dissolved—The great election campaign—“The storm conjured up”—The popular aversion to the late Coalition Ministers shown at the hustings—“The royal prerogative exerted against the palladium of the people”—Horace Walpole on the situation—The Whig losses all over England—Fox’s contest for Westminster—A forty days’ poll—The metropolis in a state of ebullition—Party cries—The streets a scene of combat—The rival mobs—The Guards—Hood’s sailors; their violent partisanship and reckless attacks—The “honest mob”—Fox’s narrow escape—The Irish chairmen beat the sailor-mob—A series of pitched battles—Partial behaviour of the special constables—Their interference and violence—Flood of ballads and political squibs—Rowlandson’s caricatures on the contest—The odium revived against the late Coalition Ministry; turned to political account by the Court party—“The Coalition Wedding: the Fox and the Badger quarter their Arms”—“Britannia aroused; or, the Coalition Monsters destroyed”—Pitt’s election manœuvres; his bidding for the favour of the citizens—Pitt presented with the freedom of the city—“Master Billy’s Procession to Grocers’ Hall”—The king threatens to retire to Hanover in the event of a defeat—Ministerial wiles—Bids of place and pension—Extensive “ratting”—“The Apostate Jack Robinson, the Political Rat-catcher. N.B. Rats taken alive!”—“The Rival Candidates: Fox, Hood, and Wray”—Rival canvassers—“Honest Sam House, the Patriotic publican”—The hustings, Covent Garden—The “prerogative standard”—“Major Cartwright, the Drum-Major of Sedition”—“The Hanoverian Horse and the British Lion”—“Fox, the Incurable”—Fair canvassers—The ladies of the Whig aristocracy a bevy of beauty; the Duchess of Devonshire, the Countess of Duncannon, the Duchess of Portland, Lady Carlisle, etc.—“The Devonshire, or Most Approved Manner of securing Votes”—“A Kiss for a Vote”—Tory lady canvassers: Lady Salisbury, the Hon. Mrs. Hobart—“Madame Blubber, the Ærostatic Dilly”—Walpole’s

account of the canvassing—Fox’s favour with the fair—The Duchess of Devonshire’s exertions on behalf of the Whig chief—Earl Stanhope on “Fox’s Martyrs”—His account of the contested election—Pitt’s letters on the Westminster election, to Wilberforce, and James Grenville—Pitt’s account of the country elections—His anxiety about Westminster—Earl Stanhope’s summary of the Westminster election—Ballads on the contest—“The Duchess Acquitted; or, the True Cause of the Majority on the Westminster Election”—Tory libels on the Duchess of Devonshire—“The Wit’s Last Stake; or, the Cobbling Voters and Abject Canvassers”—“The Poll”—Animadversions against Sir Cecil Wray—“Lords of the Bedchamber”—“The Westminster Watchman”—A flood of jeux d’esprit—“On undue influence”—“A concise Description of Covent Garden at the Westminster election”—“Stanzas in Season”—The Prince of Wales a zealous partisan of Fox—“Lady Beauchamp, Lady Carlisle, and Lady Derby at the Hustings”—Poetical tributes—The Duchess of Devonshire saves the Whig cause at Westminster—“On the Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Duncannon canvassing for Fox”—“On a certain Duchess”—Horace Walpole’s nieces, the Ladies Waldegrave, “the three Sister Graces,” canvassing for Fox—“Epigram on the Duchess of Devonshire”—“Impromptu on her Grace of Devon”—“Ode to the Duchess”—“The Paradox of the Times”—A new Song, “Fox and Freedom”—The downfall of Wray—“The Case is Altered”—Bringing in outlying voters—“Procession to the Hustings after a Successful Canvass”—“Every Man has his Hobby-Horse”—Fox carried into the House by the duchess—Exit Sir Cecil Wray!—“For the Benefit of the Champion—a Catch.” “No Renegado!” Wray defeated—“The Westminster Deserter drumm’d out of the Regiment”—Apotheosis of the fair champion—“Liberty and Fame introducing Female Patriotism (the Duchess of Devonshire) to Britannia”—The close of the poll—Wray demands a scrutiny—Partial and illegal conduct of the high bailiff as returning-officer—Fox triumphant—The ovation—The chairing procession—Two days of festivities—The reception at Devonshire House—The Prince of Wales’s rejoicings—The fête at Carlton Palace—Rival interests—Mrs. Crewe’s rout—The tedious and prolonged progress of the scrutiny—Fox for Kirkwall—“The Departure”—Fox recovers damages against the high bailiff for illegality in refusing to make a return—The affair only settled a year later—“Defeat of the High and Mighty Balissimo Corbettino and his Famed Cecilian Forces, on the Plains of St. Martin,” 1785—Corbett ordered by the court to make his return—Cast in damages—Fox’s final majority 257

CHAPTER XI.

Another Westminster election, 1788—Lord Hood appointed to the Admiralty Board, 1788—A fresh contest—Lord John Townshend, a candidate in the Whig interest—Defeat of Lord Hood—Two Whig members for Westminster—Mob violence, the Guards, Hood’s sailors—Ministerial support—“Election Troops bringing their Accounts to the Pay-table” (Treasury Gate), 1788, by J. Gillray—“An Independent Elector”—Helston, Cornwall, 1790—Lady

canvassers—A violent “eccentric”—“Proof of the Refined Feelings of an Amiable Character, lately a Candidate for a Certain Ancient City,” by J. Gillray—“The ‘Marplot’ of his Own Party”—Abuses of patronage—Traditions of boroughmongering—Accumulations of seats and parliamentary interests—Cartwright’s tables of pocket boroughs—Pitt’s early patron, Sir James Lowther—“The tyrant of the North”—“Pacific Entrance of Earl Wolf (Lord Lonsdale) into Blackhaven,” 1792—Great distress prevalent throughout the country, in 1795; its effect on political agitation—Political clubs clamour for parliamentary reform—The king and his advisers in disfavour—Revolutionary societies and the “Seditions Bill”—Gillray’s caricatures—“Meetings of Political Citizens at Copenhagen House,” 1795—Whig agitation against the threatened incursions on the “liberty of the subject”—“The Majesty of the People”—“A Hackney Meeting,” 1796—A threatened constitutional struggle averted by a dissolution of parliament, 1796—Pitt’s tactics—“The Dissolution; or, the State Alchymist producing an Ætherial Representation,” 1796—Mr. Hull’s costly electioneering experience at Maidstone, 1796—Horne Tooke unsuccessful at Westminster, 1790 and 1796—Fox and the favour of the mobocracy—“The Hustings, Covent Garden,” 1796—Electioneering squibs—The Anti-Jacobin and the member for Southwark—Canning’s lines on George Tierney, “The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-grinder,” 1797—Grey’s reform measure first moved in 1797—Defeat of the Whigs, and their temporary abstention from the debates—Increased political agitation out of doors—Great reform meetings—Medal commemorative of the gathering at Warwick—“Loyal Medal,” a parody of the “Greathead” patriotic medal—The secession of “the party”—Horne Tooke as a political agitator—The Brentford Parson’s pamphlets—Horne Tooke a political portrait painter, and the Anti-Jacobin—“Two Pair of Portraits, dedicated to the Unbiased Electors of Great Britain,” 1798—Meeting on the twentieth anniversary of Fox’s membership for Westminster—The Whig chief’s speech to his constituents—“The Worn-out Patriot; or, the Last Dying-Speech of the Westminster Representative at the Shakespeare Tavern,” 1800—Horne Tooke seated for “Old Sarum”—The opposition to his membership led by Temple—Lord Camelford’s nominees—“Political Amusements for Young Gentlemen; or, the Brentford Shuttlecock,” 1801—“Horne Tooke as the ‘Shuttlecock’”—Unexpected honours thrust upon Captain Barlow at Coventry, 1802—Middlesex Election for 1804—The Brentford Hustings—“A Long Pull, a Strong Pull, and a Pull All Together;” Sir Francis Burdett drawn to the poll—“The Governor in his Glory,” 1804—The Westminster election, 1806—The Radical Reformers—“Triumphal Procession of Little Paull”—“The Highflying Candidate mounting from a Blanket,” 1806—The coalition between Hood and Sheridan—Paull tossed at the hustings—Burdett for Middlesex—“Posting to the Election; or, a Scene on the Road to Brentford,” 1806—William Cobbett “A Radical Drummer,” 1806—“Coalition Candidates,” Hood and Sheridan—Sheridan disconcerted—“View of the Hustings in Covent Garden, Westminster Election,” 1806—“Who suffers?”—The general election, 1807—A split in the Radical camp—Differences between Burdett and Paull—“Patriots deciding a Point of Honour; or, the Exact representation of the Celebrated Rencontre which took place at Coombe Wood, between Little Paull the Tailor and Sir Francis Goose,” 1807—“The Poll of the Westminster Election,” 1807—“the Republican Goose at the Top, etc.”—Horne Tooke and Sir Francis

Burdett—“The Head of the Poll; or, the Wimbledon Showman,” 1807—“The Chelmsford Petition; Patriots addressing the Essex Calves” 289

CHAPTER XII.

The “royal” Duke of Norfolk an enthusiastic “electioneerer”—Wilberforce’s electioneering experiences—His contest for Hull—The price of freemen—The great fight for Yorkshire, 1807—“The Austerlitz of Electioneering”—The candidates, Wilberforce, Lord Milton and Lascelles—The Fitzwilliam and Harewood interests—Three hundred thousand pounds expended—The voluntary subscription to defray the expenses of Wilberforce’s candidature—The poll—The county in a state of ferment—Election wiles; false rumours; “Bruisers”—All the conveyances bespoke—Wilberforce’s victory—His motives for the contest—“Groans of the Talents”—Personation—Female canvassers under false colours—Travelling expenses of electors—Carrying cargoes of freeholders by water—Kidnapping—The caricaturists on elections—Customary episodes of a Westminster election, delineated by Rowlandson and Pugin—George Cruikshank as an election caricaturist—The “Speaker’s Warrant” for committing Burdett to the Tower, 1810—“The Little Man in the Big Wig,” 1810—“The Election Hunter,” 1812—“Saddle White Surrey for Cheapside”—Southwark election, 1812—“The Borough Candidates”—“An Election Ball,” 1813—The Westminster election, 1818—“The Freedom of Election: or, Hunt-ing for Popularity and Plumpers for Maxwell,” 1818—“Hunt, a Radical Reformer”—“A Political Squib on the Westminster Election,” 1819—“Patriot Allegory, Anarchical Fable, and Licentious Parody”—Major Cartwright, an unsuccessful candidate—Cartwright’s Petition to the House of Commons on the needful reform of a corrupt representative system, 1820—Statistics of borough-mongering—“Sinks of corruption”—“353 members corruptly imposed on the Commons”—The coming elections of 1820—John Cam Hobhouse—His imprisonment—“Little Hob in the Well”—“A Trifling Mistake—corrected,” 1820—Radicals—“The Root of the King’s Evil; Lay the Axe to it,” 1820—The Riot Act—“The Law’s Delay. Showing the advantage and comfort of waiting the specified time after reading the Riot Act to a Radical Mob; or, a British Magistrate in the Discharge of his Duties, and the People of England in the Discharge of Theirs,” 1820—“The Election Day”—Dissolution of Parliament, 1820—“Coriolanus addressing the Plebs,” 1820—“Freedom and Purity of Election! Showing the Necessity of Reform in the Close Boroughs,” 1820—“Radical Quacks giving a new Constitution to John Bull,” 1820—Burdett and Hobhouse as Radical Reformers 324

CHAPTER XIII.

The last parliament of George IV.’s reign—The country clamorous for retrenchment—The Tory régime growing irksome—The

king’s illness, 1830—John Doyle’s caricatures upon public events (HB’s “political sketches”)—“Present State of Public Feeling Partially Illustrated,” 1830—Death of the king—“The Mourning Journal: Alas! Poor Yorick!”—“The Magic Mirror; or, a Peep into Futurity”—The Princess Victoria—Accession of William IV.—Whig prospects reviving—Brougham, “A Gheber worshipping the Rising Sun”—Wellington, a “Detected Trespasser”—Party intrigues—“Anticipation; or, Queen Sarah’s Visit to Bushy”—The old campaigner—“Un-Holy Alliance; or, an Ominous Conjunction”—The general election, 1830—“Election Squibs and Crackers for 1830. Before and After the Election”—Caricaturists, as politicians, usually above party prejudices—W. Cobbett returned for Oldham—“Peter Porcupine” an M.P.—“A Characteristic Dialogue”—Changes of seats—“The Noodle Bazaar”—Heads for Cabinets—John Bull and the Times—“The man that is easily led by the nose”—“Resignation and Fortitude; or, the Gold Stick”—“The Rival Candidates;” Boai and Grant—Wellington’s leadership threatened: “The Unsuccessful Appeal”—The popular will—Attacks upon the Wellington and Peel Ministry—Results of the general election unfavourable to the Cabinet—“A Masked Battery”—“A Cabinet Picture”—“Guy Fawkes; or, the Anniversary of the Popish Plot”—Defeat foreshadowed—“False Alarm; or, Much Ado about Nothing”—The Eastern Question fatal to Wellington’s Ministry—“Scene from the Suppressed Tragedy entitled the Turco-Greek Conspiracy”—“His Honour the Beadle (William IV.) driving the Wagabonds out of the Parish”—The adoption of liberal progress—Preliminary skirmishing—“The Coquet”—The ministry thrown out—“Examples of the Laconic Style”—“A very Prophetical and Pathetical Allegory,” 1831—Reform on the road—“Leap-Frog down Constitution Hill,” 1831—Another appeal to the country—“Anticipated Radical Meeting”—The dissolution—“Great Reform” Specialists; John Bull and his constitutional deformity—“Hoo-Loo-Choo, alias John Bull, and the Doctors”—“May-Day”—“Leap-Frog on a Level; or, Going Headlong to the Devil”—The Reformers having it all their own way—A swinging pace—Political squibs on the elections of 1831—The great battle of Lord Grey’s Reform Bill—“The New Chevy Chase,” a poetical version of the reform struggle—“Votaries at the Altar of Discord”—“Peerless Eloquence”—Slaughter of the Innocents—“Niobe Family”—Extinction of pocket boroughs—Reform at a breakneck pace—“John Gilpin”—William IV. carried away by the old Grey—“The Handwriting on the Wall: ‘Reform Bill!’”—A warning to reformers—Grey and “Brissot’s Ghost”—“Macbeth” and “The Tricoloured Witches”—Grey, Durham, and Brougham—Althorp and Russell—A tub to a whale—“A Tale of a Tub, and the Moral of the Tail”—Renovations at the King’s Head: “Varnishing—A Sign (of the Times)”—“The Rival Mount-o’-Bankes; or, the Dorsetshire Juggler”—Root-and-branch reform—“LINEal Descent of the Crown,” a hint from Hogarth’s works, 1832—Hobhouse in office—“The Cast-off Cloak”—Radicalism over-warm—“Mazeppa” (William IV.): “Again he urges on his wild career”—“Ministers in their Cups” 343

CHAPTER XIV.

John Doyle, a Tory Caricaturist—The Tories out in the cold—“The Waits,” 1833—Grey and the king—“Sindbad the Sailor and the Old Man of the Sea,” 1833—Parliamentary reform not carried far enough—Burdett, Hume, and O’Connell: “Three Great Pillars of Government; or, a Walk from White Conduit House to St. Stephen’s,” 1834—“Time running away with the Reform Bill”—General election, 1834-5—Party competition—“The Opposition ’Busses”—“Original Design for the King’s Arms, to be placed over the New Speaker’s Chair,” supporters, Burdett and Cobbett—“Inconveniences that might have arisen from the Ballot”—Bribery and violence discounted—General election of 1835—Broadside squibs on the Windsor election—Tory view of the decline of the British constitution, “A New Instance of the Mute—ability of Human Affairs,” 1837—Appeal to the Constituencies in 1837—“Going to the Fair with It: a cant phrase for doing anything in an extravagant way”—Contortions of statesmen to keep in place: “Ins and Outs”—“Fancy Ball: Jim Crow Dance and Chorus,” 1837—Conversion of Sir Francis Burdett from Radicalism to Toryism—“A Fine Old English Gentleman, one of Olden Time,” 1837—A bye-election for Westminster—Burdett opposed by Leader—“Following the Leader”—“May-Day in 1837”—Whig gambols—Sir Francis Burdett invites the verdict of his Westminster constituents upon his change of front—Thackeray’s pictorial squib on the event—“The Guide”—“The Rivals; or, Old Tory Glory and Young Liberal Glory,” 1837—Sir Francis Burdett re-elected—His valedictory speech at the Westminster hustings, 1837—His quarrel with Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator—Defeat of Leader—“The Dog and the Shadow”—“Race for the Westminster Stakes between an Old Thoro’bred and a Young Cock-tail; weight for age. The old ’un winning in a canter,” May, 1837—“Taking up a Fare: All the World’s a Stage”—Burdett’s attack on Democracy—“The Last and Highest Point at which the unheard-of Courage of Don Quixote ever did, or could arrive, with the Happy Conclusion”—“An Old Song to a New Tune”—“The Raddies”—Fate of Leader—“A Dead-horse: a sorry subject; what was once a Leader in the Bridgwater Coach”—“The Three Tailors of Tooley Street. We, the People of England”—“Reorganizing the (Spanish) Legion”—Burdett for North Wilts—“Grinding Young”—Lord Durham—“The Newest Universal Medicine”—ejected of Kilmarnock”—Joseph Hume defeated at Middlesex—“Figurative Representation of the Late Catastrophe!”—Dan O’Connell providing the rejected candidates with seats—“Great Western General Booking Office”—Hume for Kilkenny—“Shooting Rubbish”—The interval before parliament reassembled—“Retzsch’s Extraordinary Design of Satan Playing at Chess with Man for his Soul,” 1837—Party tactics—“A Game at Chess (again): the Queen in Danger”—“High Life below Stairs (inverted), as lately performed at Windsor by her Majesty’s servants”—“Election Day: a Poetical Sketch from Nature”—The hustings—The chairing—John Sterling’s poem, “The Election,” 1841—A New Election at Aleborough—Rival Houses—The Candidates—The attorneys—A corrupt bargain—The canvassing—Indirect bribing—The Bribery Act set at naught—Female voters,

a fanciful prospect by George Cruikshank—“Rights of Women; or, a View of the Hustings with Female Suffrage,” 1835—Memorable electioneering experiences: Two eminent writers as candidates for seats in parliament, 1857—Incidents in the canvassing of James Hannay—W. M. Thackeray’s contest at Oxford—Summary of bribery at elections: Bribery Acts 374

СПИСОК ИЛЛЮСТРАЦИЙ.

SEPARATE PLATES.

PAGE

The Rights of Women; or, a View of the Hustings with Female Suffrage. 1835 Frontispiece

Ready Money, the Prevailing Candidate; or, the Humours of an Election 84

The Humours of a Country Election. 1734 90

To the Independent Electors of Westminster. Vernon and Edwin. 1741 97

Meeting of the Association of Independent Electors of Westminster: the Spy detected. March, 1747 109

The Humours of the Westminster Election; or, the Scald Miserable Independent Electors in the Suds. 1747 113

Great Britain’s Union; or, the Litchfield Races. 1747 114

Britannia Disturbed by French Vagrants. Lord Trentham for Westminster. 1749 121

All the World in a Hurry; or, the Road from London to Oxford. 1754 134

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 145

“Wilkes and Liberty” Riots. The Scotch Victory. Murder of Allen by a Grenadier. Massacre of St. George’s Fields. 1768 174

The Hustings at Brentford, Middlesex Election, 1768. Serjeant Glynn and Sir W. Beauchamp Proctor 178

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 Sequel to the Battle of Temple Bar—Presentation of the Loyal Address at St. James’s Palace. 1769 201

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 Master Billy’s Procession to Grocers’ Hall—Parliamentary Elections—Pitt presented with the Freedom of the City. 1784 264

The Apostate Jack Robinson, the Political Rat-catcher. 1784 265

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 The Rival Candidates—Great Westminster Election. 1784 266

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 The Hanoverian Horse and the British Lion. March, 1784 268

The Wit’s Last Stake; or, the Cobbling Voter and Abject Canvassers 275

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 Lords of the Bedchamber 276

The Westminster Watchman 277

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 The Case is altered 281

The Procession to the Hustings after a Successful Canvass 282

The Oxfordshire Election—the Polling Booth. 1754 The Westminster Deserter Drummed out of the Regiment. Defeat of Sir Cecil Wray. Hustings, Covent Garden, Westminster Election. 1784 284

Liberty and Fame introducing Female Patriotism (Duchess of Devonshire) to Britannia. 1784 285

Defeat of the High and Mighty Balissimo Corbettino and his famed Cecilian Forces, on the Plains of St. Martin, on Thursday, the 3rd day of February, 1785, by the Champion of the People and his Chosen Band 287

Proof of the Refined Feelings of an Amiable Character, lately a Candidate for a certain Ancient City 293

Pacific Entrance of Earl Wolf (Lord Lonsdale) into Blackhaven. 1792 296

Meeting of Patriotic Citizens at Copenhagen House, 1795. Speakers: Thelwall, Gale Jones, Hodson, and John Binns 298

The Dissolution; or, the Alchymist producing an Ætherial Representation. William Pitt dissolving the House of Commons. 1796 300

Two Pair of Portraits. Presented to all the Unbiased Electors of Great Britain. 1798 305

Middlesex Election, 1804. A Long Pull—a Strong Pull—and a Pull All Together 312

Posting to the Election; or, a Scene on the Road to Brentford. 1806 315

The Law’s Delay. Reading the Riot Act. 1820 334

Coriolanus Addressing the Plebs. 1820 338

Election Squibs and Crackers for 1830 346

His Honour the Beadle (William IV.) driving the Wagabonds out of the Parish. Nov. 28, 1830 354

Leap-Frog down Constitution Hill. April 13, 1831 356

Hoo-loo-choo, alias John Bull, and the Doctors. May 2, 1831 357

Leap-Frog on a Level; or, Going Headlong to the Devil. May 6, 1831 358

John Gilpin. May 13, 1831 366

“The Handwriting on the Wall.” May 26, 1831 367

Varnishing—a Sign (of “The Times”). June 1, 1831 370

The Rival Mount-o’-Bankes; or, the Dorsetshire Juggler. May 25, 1831 371

Mazeppa—“Again he urges on his Wild Career.” Aug. 7, 1832 372

Three Great Pillars of Government; or, a Walk from White Conduit House to St. Stephen’s. July 23, 1834 376

Inconveniences that might have arisen from the Ballot 378

SMALLER ILLUSTRATIONS.

Candidates addressing their Constituents Title page

Walpole Chaired. 1701 79

The Prevailing Candidate; or, the Election carried by Bribery and the D——l 82

Kentish Election. 1734 86

The Devil on Two Sticks. 1741 92

Westminster—The Two-shilling Butcher. 1747 111

The Election at Oxford—Canvassing for Votes. 1754 144

The Oxfordshire Election—Chairing the Members. 1754 147

George Bubb Dodington (Lord Melcombe Regis) and the Earl of Winchilsea. 1753 149

Burning a Prime Minister in Effigy. 1756 155

John Wilkes, a Patriot 159

A Bear-leader. Hogarth, Churchill, and Wilkes 160

A Safe Place. Wilkes in the Tower, 1763 162

The New Coalition—The Reconciliation of “The Two Kings of Brentford.” 1784 254

A Mob-Reformer. 1780 256

The Coalition Wedding—The Fox (C. J. Fox) and the Badger (Lord North) Quarter their Arms on John Bull 263

Britannia Aroused, or the Coalition Monsters destroyed 264

Honest Sam House, the Patriotic Publican, Canvasser for Fox 266