Mr. Titmouse, on concluding, made a great number of very profound bows,
and replaced his hat upon his head, amid prolonged and enthusiastic
cheering, which, on Mr. Delamere's essaying to address the crowd, was
suddenly converted into a perfect hurricane of hissing; like as we now
and then find a shower of rain suddenly change into hail. Mr. Delamere
stood the pitiless pelting of the storm with calmness, resolution, and
good-humor. Ten minutes had elapsed, and he had not been allowed to
utter one syllable audible to any one beyond four or five feet from him.
Every fresh effort he made to speak caused a renewal of the uproar, and
many very offensive and opprobrious epithets were applied to him. Surely
this was disgraceful, disgusting! What had he done to deserve such
treatment? Had he been guilty of offering some gross indignity and
outrage to every person present, individually, could he have fared worse
than he did? He had conducted his canvass with scrupulous and exemplary
honor and integrity--with the utmost courtesy to all parties, whether
adverse or favorable. He was surely not deficient in those qualities of
head and of heart--of personal appearance, even, which usually secure
man favor with his fellows. _Who_ could lay _anything_ to his
charge--except that he had ventured to solicit the suffrages of the
electors of Yatton, in competition with Mr. Titmouse? If men of a
determined character and of princely means have to calculate upon such
brutal usage as this, can those who sanction or perpetrate it wonder at
bribery and other undue means being resorted to, in absolute
self-defence? Is it meant to deter any one from coming forward that has
not a forehead of brass, leathern lungs, and heart of marble? After
upwards of a quarter of an hour had been thus consumed, without Mr.
Delamere's having been permitted to utter two consecutive sentences,
though he stood up against it patiently and gallantly, the returning
officer, who had often appealed to them in vain, earnestly besought Mr.
Titmouse to use his influence with the crowd, in order to secure Mr.
Delamere a moment's hearing.
"'Pon my life--I--eh?" quoth Titmouse. "A likely thing! He'd do it for
_me_, wouldn't he? Every man for himself--all fair at an election, eh,
Gammon?"
"Do it, sir!" whispered Gammon, indignantly--"do it, and instantly--or
you deserve to be kicked off the hustings!" Titmouse, on this,
took off his hat with a very bad grace, and addressing the crowd,
said--"I--I--suppose you'll hear what he's got to say for
himself, gents"----But all was in vain; "Off! off! No!--Go
home!--ah!--ah!--a--a--a--h!----St!--St!--Get away home with you, you
young boroughmonger!--a--a--h!" came in louder and fiercer tones from
the mob. Yet Mr. Delamere did not like to give up without another and a
desperate effort to catch the ear of the mob; but while he was in the
act of raising his right hand, and exclaiming--"Gentlemen, only a word
or two--I pledge my honor that I will not keep you three minutes"--some
miscreant from the body of the crowd aimed at him a stone, not a very
large one to be sure, yet flung with very considerable force, and
hitting him just about the centre of the upper lip, which it cut open.
He instantly turned pale, and applied to the wound his white
pocket-handkerchief, which was speedily saturated with blood. Still the
gallant young fellow stood his ground with firmness, and the smile
which he endeavored to assume, it was enough to have brought tears into
one's eyes to witness. The instant that Gammon had seen the stone take
effect, he rushed over towards where Mr. Delamere stood amid his
agitated friends, who were dissuading him from persevering in his
attempt to address the crowd?--
"You are severely hurt, sir!" exclaimed Gammon, with much agitation,
taking off his hat with an air of earnest and respectful sympathy. Then
he turned with an air of excitement towards the mob, who seemed shocked
into silence by the incident which had taken place, and were uttering
increasing cries of "Shame! shame!"
"Shame?--shame, _shame_, indeed, gentlemen"--he exclaimed
vehemently--"Where is that atrocious miscreant? In the name of Mr.
Titmouse, who is too much agitated to address you himself, I conjure you
to secure that abominable ruffian, and let him be brought to justice! If
not, Mr. Titmouse protests solemnly that he will withdraw from the
election."
"Bravo, Titmouse! bravo! Spoke like a man!" exclaimed several voices. A
desperate struggle was soon perceived about that quarter where the man
who flung the stone must have been standing; he had been seized, and
being in a trice most severely handled, a couple of men almost throttled
him with the tightness of their grasp round his neck--these too the very
men who had encouraged him to perpetrate the outrage!--and, amid a
shower of kicks and blows, he was hauled off, and deposited, half dead,
in the cage.
"Three cheers for Delamere!" cried a voice from the crowd; and never had
a more vehement shout issued from them, than in response to that
summons.
"Delamere! Delamere!--Hear him!--Speak out!--Delamere! Delamere!" cried
a great number of voices, of people growing more and more excited as
they beheld his handkerchief becoming suffused with blood. But he was
not in a condition then to respond to their call. He was suffering
really not a little pain; and, moreover, his feelings had for a
moment--just for a moment--given way, when he adverted to the
possibility that Lady De la Zouch might have witnessed the outrage, or
received exaggerated accounts of it. Mr. St. Aubyn, however, stood
forward in Mr. Delamere's stead--and in a very touching and judicious
but brief address, roused the feelings of the crowd to a high pitch of
sympathy for Mr. Delamere, who stood beside him, hat in
hand--vehemently, and at length successfully, struggling to repress his
rising emotions. If only one out of a hundred of those present had had a
vote, this stone's throw might have changed the fate of the
election!--No other candidate having been proposed, the returning
officer then proceeded to call for a show of hands; on which a very
great number were held up in favor of Mr. Titmouse; but when Mr.
Delamere's name was called, it really seemed as if every one present had
extended both his hands!--there could be no mistake, no room for doubt.
Titmouse turned as pale as a sheet, and gazed with an expression of
ludicrous consternation at Gammon, who also looked, in common indeed
with his whole party, not a little disconcerted. The returning officer,
having procured silence, declared that the choice of the electors had
fallen upon Mr. Delamere; on which a tremendous cheering followed, which
lasted for several minutes; and, luckily recollecting the utter nullity
of a show of hands as a test or evidence, either way, of the result of
the election,[1] Mr. Gammon directed Mudflint formally to demand a poll
on behalf of Mr. Titmouse; on which the returning officer announced that
the poll would take place at eight o'clock the next morning; and
thereupon the day's proceedings closed. Mr. Delamere, in a very few
words, returned thanks to the electors for the honor which they had
conferred upon him, and entreated them to go early to the poll. He and
his friends then left the hustings. His procession quickly formed; his
band struck up with extraordinary energy and spirit--"_See the
Conquering Hero comes!_" but the rolling of the drums, the clashing of
cymbals, the rich deep tones of the bassoons, trombones, and French
horns, and clear and lively notes of flute and clarionet, were quite
overpowered by the acclamations of the crowd which attended them to his
committee-room. Sir Percival Pickering, throwing open the window,
addressed a word or two to the dense crowd; and then, having given three
lusty cheers, they withdrew. A glass of wine and water quickly refreshed
the spirits of Mr. Delamere, and a surgeon having arrived, found it
necessary to dress the wound with much care, for the cut was severe; in
fact, the upper lip was partially laid open; and he declared it highly
imprudent for Mr. Delamere to attempt to make his appearance out of
doors on the morrow. As for Mr. Crafty, as soon as he heard what had
taken place, he uttered, as he felt bound to do, a few casual
expressions of sympathy; but what passed through his mind, as he resumed
his seat before his papers, was--"What a pity that all those fellows had
not had votes, and that the poll had not commenced _instanter_!" The
truly unexpected issue of the day's proceedings, while it elevated the
spirits of all Mr. Delamere's friends, produced only one effect upon the
imperturbable Mr. Crafty; he strongly suspected that the other side
would probably be resorting during the night to measures of a desperate
and unscrupulous description, in order to counteract the unfavorable
impression calculated to be effected by the defeat of Mr. Titmouse at
the show of hands. As for that gentleman, by the way, he became very
insolent towards Gammon on reaching the committee-room, and protested,
with fury in his face, that it had all been brought about by Mr.
Gammon's "cursed officious meddling with Mr. Titmouse's name before the
mob after the stone had been thrown;" on hearing which, "Go on to the
Hall, sir, dine, and get drunk if you choose," said Gammon, bitterly and
peremptorily; "I shall remain here all night. Powerful as are your
energies, they require relaxation after the fatigues of the day!" and
with a very _decisive_, but not violent degree of force, Titmouse was
urged, in a twinkling, into the outer committee-room. Mr. Gammon had,
indeed, as much serious work before him that night as Mr. Crafty, and
prepared for secret and decisive action every whit as calmly and
effectively as he. Mr. Crafty's arrangements were admirable. During the
day he had parcelled out the borough into a number of small departments,
each of which he committed to some steady and resolute friend of Mr.
Delamere, who was to look after every elector in his division about whom
there was any ground for fear, in respect either of apprehended
abduction, or of treachery. These gentlemen were to be relieved at
intervals; and from one to the other of them, perpetually, were the
personal agents of Crafty to go their rounds, in order to see that all
was right, and carry intelligence to headquarters. Then others were
intrusted with the ticklish and tiresome duty of watching the movements
of the enemy in quarters where Crafty had sure information of intended
operations during the night. Complete arrangements had been made, also,
for bringing up voters to the poll at the exact times, and in the
numbers, and in the manner, which might on the morrow be determined on
by Mr. Crafty. Names were noted down of those to whom the bribery oath
was to be administered. Prudent as were these precautions, they did not
entirely prevent the mischief against which they had been levelled. As
the night wore on, evidence was, from time to time, brought in to Mr.
Crafty that the enemy were at work at, their expected tricks; _e.g._--
"Jacob Joliffe is missing. Wife _says_ she knows nothing about him.
_Inquire._"
"Send _at least a couple_ of men to watch Peter Jiggins, or he'll
be out of the way when he's wanted."
"Haste--haste. G. Atkins and Adam Hutton, both safe ten minutes
ago, are off; enticed out into a postchaise--gone towards
York--(Half-past eleven.")
"Send some one to the Jolly Snobs to watch the treating going on.
_Most important._ Mr. Titmouse has been there, and drunk a glass of
rum with them."
Then more mysterious missives made their appearance from Mr. Crafty's
own familiars.
"Q.C.S.H.O.--12."--(_i.e._ "The Quaint Club still holds
out.--Twelve o'clock.")
"Q.C.G._W._--1/2 past 1."--(_i.e._ "The Quaint Club are _going
wrong_.--Half-past one o'clock.")
"S.B.; G.O. => => + => => H. 1/4 to 2."--(_i.e._ "I have seen Bran.
Gammon offers ten pounds, in addition to the ten pounds already
given.--They hesitate.--A quarter to two o'clock.")
"3/heard & S. B. & M. w. B. O. Q. C.--12--3."--(_i.e._ "Three of
our people have just overheard _and seen_ Bloodsuck and Mudflint,
with Bran, offering the Quaint Club _twelve_ pounds.--Three
o'clock.")
"Q. C. G. R. w. Y. & C. T. T. Y. M.S. I.--4."--(_i.e._ "The Quaint
Club are getting restive with _you_, and coming to terms with
Titmouse. You must stir instantly.--Four o'clock.")
"[Greek: Delta Delta] => 10 m. 4."--These last mysterious symbols
caused Mr. Crafty instantly to bestir himself, He changed color a
_little_, and went into the adjoining room. The meaning of the
communication was--"_Great danger to both parties_."
In the adjoining room, where two candles were burning down in their very
sockets, and the fire nearly out, were some four or five trusty friends
of Mr. Delamere--gentlemen who had placed themselves entirely at Mr.
Crafty's disposal throughout the night. When he entered, they were all
nearly asleep, or at least dozing. Beckoning two of them into his own
room, he instructed one to go and plant himself openly--nay, as
conspicuously as possible--near the door of Mr. Titmouse's
committee-room, so as not to fail of being recognized, by any one
leaving or entering it, as a well-known friend of Mr. Delamere's; in
fact, Mr. Titmouse's friends were to discover that their motions were
watched. The other he instructed to act similarly opposite the door of a
small house in a narrow court--the residence, in fact, of Ben Bran,
where all the night's negotiations with the Quaint Club had been carried
on. Immediately afterwards, Mr. Crafty felt it his duty, as between man
and man, to warn his opponent of the mortal peril in which he was
placed; and, in his anxiety for fair play, found means to convey the
following note into the committee-room where Mr. Gammon and one or two
others were sitting:--
"Take care!! You are deceived! betrayed! Q. C. is sold
out and out to the _Blues_!! And part of the bargain, that B. B.
shall betray you into bribery in the presence of witnesses--_not
one man_ of the club safe; this have _just learned_ from the wife of
one of them. From a well-wishing friend, but _obligated_ to vote
(against his conscience) for the Blues.
"P.S.--Lord D. in the town (quite private) with lots of _the
needful_, and doing business sharply."
While Mr. Gammon and his companions were canvassing this letter, in came
the two gentlemen who had been watched, in the way I have stated, from
Ben Bran's house to Mr. Titmouse's committee-room, pale and agitated,
with intelligence of that fact. Though hereat Gammon's color deserted
his cheek, he affected to treat the matter very lightly, and laughed at
the idea of being deluded by such boy's play. If Lord De la Zouch--said
he--had hired Crafty only to play tricks like _these_, he might as well
have saved the trouble and expense. Here a slight bustle was heard at
the door; and the hostler made his appearance, saying that a man had
just given him a document which he produced to Mr. Gammon; who, taking
from the hostler a dirty and ill-folded paper, read as follows:--
"To Squire Titmous. you Are All Wrong. the Blues is _wide_
Awake All Night and nos all, Lord Dillysoush about with One
hundred Spies; And look Out for traiters in the Camp. A
friend or Enemy as you Will, but loving Fair Play."
"Poh!" exclaimed Gammon, flinging it on the table contemptuously.
Now, I may as well mention here, that about nine o'clock in the evening,
Mr. Parkinson had brought to Crafty _sure_ intelligence that a very
zealous and influential person, who was entirely in the confidence of
the enemy, had come to him a little while before, and candidly
disclosed the very melancholy position of his--the aforesaid
communicant's--financial affairs; and Mr. Parkinson happened to be in a
condition to verify the truth of the man's statement, that there was a
writ out against him for £250; and that, unless he could meet it, he
would have to quit the county before daybreak, and his very promising
prospects in business would be utterly ruined. Mr. Parkinson knew these
matters professionally; and, in short, Crafty was given to understand,
that so disgusted was Mr. M'Do'em--the gentleman in question--with Whig
principles (his inexorable creditor being a Whig) and practices, such as
the bribery, treating, and corruption at that moment going on, that--his
conscience pricked him--and--ahem!--the poor penitent was ready to make
all the amends in his power by discovering villany to its intended
victims. Crafty, having felt the ground pretty safe underneath him, took
upon himself to say, that Mr. M'Do'em need be under no further
apprehension as to his pecuniary liabilities; but, in the mean while, he
would certainly wish for a little _evidence_ of the _bona fides_ of his
present conduct.
"Come," quoth M'Do'em, after receiving a pregnant wink from Mr.
Crafty--"send some one whom you can rely upon with me _immediately_, to
do as I bid him--and let him report to you what he shall actually see."
No sooner said than done. A trusty managing clerk of Mr. Parkinson's
forthwith accompanied M'Do'em on a secret expedition....
They stood at a window with a broken pane. 'T was a small ill-furnished
kitchen, and in the corner, close to the fire, sat smoking a middle-aged
man, wearing a dirty brown paper cap. Opposite to him sat two persons,
in very earnest conversation with him. They were Mr. Mudflint and Mr.
Bloodsuck, junior.
"Come, come, _that's_ decidedly unreasonable," quoth the former.
"No, sir, it _a'n't_. I'm an independent man!--It quite cut me to the
heart, I 'sure you, sir, to see Mr. Delamere so dreadfully used--my good
missus, that's in bed, says to me--says she"----
"But what had Mr. Titmouse to do with it, you know?" said Mudflint,
taking out of his pocket a bit of crumpled paper, at which the man he
addressed gazed listlessly, shook his head, and exclaimed, "_No, it
won't do_----He didn't desarve such treatment, poor young gentleman."
(Here Bloodsuck and Mudflint whispered--and the latter, with a very bad
grace, produced a second bit of crumpled paper.)
"_That's_ something like"--said the man, rather more good-humoredly.
"Is't _sartain_ Mr. Titmouse had nothing to do with it?"
"To be sure not!--Now, mind, by a quarter past eight--eh?" inquired
Mudflint, very anxiously, and somewhat sullenly.
"I'm a man of my word--no one can say I ever broke it in earnest; and as
for a straightforward bit o' business like this, I say, I'm your man--so
here's my hand."...
"Don't _that_ look rather like business?" inquired M'Do'em, in a
whisper, after they had lightly stepped away.--"But come along!"...
After another similar scene, the two returned to the Hare and Hounds,
and the matter was satisfactorily settled between Crafty and
M'Do'em--one hundred down, and the rest on the morning after the
election. He was to _poll for Titmouse_, and that, too, early in the
day; and be as conspicuous and active as possible in his exertions in
behalf of that gentleman--to appear, in short, one of his most stanch
and confidential supporters. Whether Lord De la Zouch or his son would
have sanctioned such conduct as this, had they had an inkling of it, I
leave to the reader to conjecture: but Crafty was easy about the
matter--'t was only, in _his_ opinion, "manœuvring;" and all weapons
are fair against a burglar or highwayman; all devices against a
swindler. M'Do'em gave Crafty a list of nine voters at Grilston who had
received five pounds a-piece; and enabled him to discover a case of
wholesale _treating_, brought home to one of the leading members of Mr.
Titmouse's committee. Well, this worthy capped all his honorable
services by hurrying in to Gammon, some quarter of an hour after he had
received the second anonymous letter, and with a perfect appearance of
consternation, after carefully shutting the door and eying the window,
faltered that all was going wrong--that traitors were in the camp; that
Lord De la Zouch had _bought every man of the Quaint Club two days
before at thirty pounds a-head_! half already paid down, the rest to be
paid on the morning of the _fifteenth day after Parliament should have
met_--(M'Do'em said he did not know what that meant, but Gammon was more
influenced and alarmed by it than by anything else that had happened;)
that _Ben Bran was playing false_, having received a large sum--though
how much M'Do'em had not yet learned--as head-money from Lord De la
Zouch; and that, if one single farthing were after that moment paid or
promised to any single member of the club, either by Mr. Titmouse, or
any one on his behalf, they were all delivered, bound hand and foot,
into the power of Lord De la Zouch, and at his mercy. That so daring and
yet artful was Lord De la Zouch, that his agents had attempted to tamper
with even HIM, M'Do'em! but so as to afford him not the least hold of
them. Moreover, he knew a fellow-townsman who would, despite all his
promises to the Liberal candidate, poll for Delamere; but nothing should
induce him, M'Do'em, to disclose the name of that person, on account of
the peculiar way in which he, M'Do'em, had come to know the fact. On
hearing all this, Gammon calmly made up his mind for the worst; and
immediately resolved to close all further negotiations with the Quaint
Club. To have acted otherwise would have been mere madness, and courting
destruction. The more he reflected on the exorbitant demand of the
Quaint Club--and so _suddenly_ exorbitant, and enforced by such an
impudent sort of quiet pertinacity--the more he saw to corroborate--had
that occurred to him as necessary--the alarming intelligence of M'Do'em.
Mr. Gammon concealed much of his emotion; but he ground his teeth
together with the effort. Towards six o'clock, there was a room full of
the friends and agents of Titmouse; to whom Gammon, despite all that had
happened, and which was known only to four or five of those present,
gave a highly encouraging account of the day's prospects, but impressed
upon them all, with infinite energy, the necessity for caution and
activity. A great effort was to be made to head the poll from the first,
in order at once to do away with the _prestige_ of the show of hands;
"and the friends of Mr. Titmouse" (_i. e._ the ten pounds' worth of mob)
were to be in attendance round the polling-booth at seven o'clock, and
remain there the rest of the day, in order, by their presence; to
encourage and protect (!) the voters of Mr. Titmouse. This and one or
two other matters having been thus arranged, Mr. Gammon, who was
completely exhausted with his long labor, retired to a bedroom, and
directed that he should without fail be called in one hour's time. As he
threw himself on the bed, with his clothes on, and extinguished his
candle, he had at least the consolation of reflecting, that nine of the
enemy's stanchest voters were safely stowed away, (as he imagined,) and
that seven or eight of the _accessibles_, pledged to Mr. Delamere, had
promised to reconsider the matter.
If Gammon had taken the precaution of packing the front of the
polling-booth in the way I have mentioned, Mr. Crafty had not overlooked
the necessity of securing efficient protection for his voters; and
between seven and eight o'clock no fewer than between four and five
hundred stout yeomen, tenants of Lord De la Zouch and others of the
surrounding nobility and gentry, made their appearance in the town, and
insinuated themselves into the rapidly accumulating crowd: many of them,
however, remaining at large, at the command of Mr. Delamere's committee,
in order, when necessary, to secure safe access to the poll for those
who might require such assistance. It was strongly urged upon Mr. Crafty
to bring up a strong body of voters at the commencement, in order to
head the polling at the end of the first hour. "Not the least occasion
for it," said Crafty, quietly--"I don't care a straw for it: in a small
borough no end can be gained, where the voters are so few in number that
every man's vote is secured long beforehand to a dead certainty. There's
no _prestige_ to be gained or supported. No. Bring up _first_ all the
distant and most uncertain voters--the timid, the feeble, the wavering;
secure _them_ early while you have time and opportunity. Again, for the
first few hours poll languidly; it _may_ render the enemy over-easy. You
may perhaps make a sham _rush_ of about twenty or thirty between twelve
and one o'clock, to give them the idea that you are doing your very
best. Then fall off, poll a man now and then only, and see what _they_
will do, how _they_ are playing off their men. If you can hang back till
late in the day, then direct, very secretly and cautiously, the bribery
oath and the questions to be put to each of the enemy's men as they come
up; and, while you are thus picking them off, pour in your own voters
before the opposite party is aware of your game, and the hour for
closing the poll _may_ perhaps arrive while some dozen or so of their
men are unpolled. But above all, gentlemen," said Crafty, "every one to
his own work only. One thing, at a time, throughout the day; which is
quite long enough for all you have to do. Don't hang back in order to
bring up several voters at once; if you have _one_ ready, take him up
instanter, and have done with him. Don't give yourselves the least
concern about ascertaining the numbers that _have_ polled, but only
those that have _yet to be_ polled; the returns I will look after. Let
those stand behind the check-clerks, who are best acquainted with the
names, persons, and circumstances of the voters who come up, and can
detect imposture of any sort before the vote is recorded, _and the
mischief done_. The scoundrel may be thus easily _kept off_ the
poll-books, whom it may cost you a thousand pounds hereafter to attempt
to remove, in vain."
The day was bright and frosty; and long before eight o'clock the little
town was all alive with music, flags, cheering, and crowds passing to
and fro. The polling-booth was exceedingly commodious and well
constructed, with a view to the most rapid access and departure of the
voters. By eight o'clock there were more than a couple of thousand
persons collected before the booth; and--significant evidence of the
transient nature of yesterday's excitement!--the yellow colors appeared
as five to one. Just before eight o'clock, up drove Mr. Titmouse, in a
dog-cart, from which he jumped out amid the cheers of almost all
present, and skipped on to the bench behind his own check-clerk, with
the intention of remaining there all day to acknowledge the votes given
for him! But Mr. Delamere, with a just delicacy and pride, avoided
making his appearance either at or near the booth, at all events till
the voting was over. The first vote given was that of Obadiah Holt, the
gigantic landlord of the Hare and Hounds, and for Mr. Delamere; the
event being announced by a tremendous groan; but no one ventured any
personal incivility to the laughing giant that passed through them. A
loud cheer, as well as a sudden bobbing of the head on the part of
Titmouse, announced that the second vote had been recorded for him; and,
indeed, during the next twenty minutes he polled fifteen for Delamere's
eight. At _nine_ o'clock the poll stood thus--
Titmouse 31
Delamere 18
--
Majority 13
Steadily adhering to Mr. Crafty's system, at _ten_ o'clock the poll
stood--
Titmouse 53
Delamere 29
--
Majority 24
At _eleven_ o'clock--
Titmouse 89
Delamere 41
--
Majority 48
At _twelve_ o'clock--
Titmouse 94
Delamere 60
--
Majority 34
At _one_ o'clock--
Titmouse 129
Delamere 84
--
Majority 45
At this point they remained stationary for some time; but Delamere had
polled all his _worst votes_, Titmouse almost all his _best_. The latter
had, indeed, only _seventeen_ more in reserve, independently of the
Quaint Club, and the still neutral _twenty_ accessibles; while Delamere
had yet, provided his promises stood firm, and none of his men were
hocussed or kidnapped, forty-five good men and true--and some faint
hopes, also, of the aforesaid twenty accessibles. For a quarter of an
hour not one man came up for either party; but at length two of
Delamere's leading friends came up, with faces full of anxiety, and
recorded their votes for Delamere, amid loud laughter. About half-past
one o'clock a prodigious--and I protest that it was both to Lord De la
Zouch and his son a totally unexpected--rush was made on behalf of
Delamere, consisting of _the twenty accessibles_; who in the midst of
yelling, and hissing, and violent abuse, voted, one after another, for
Delamere. Whether or not a strong pressure had been resorted to by some
zealous and powerful gentlemen in the neighborhood, but entirely
independent of Mr. Delamere, I know not; but the fact was as I have
stated. At _two_ o'clock the poll stood thus--
Titmouse 145
Delamere 134
---
Majority 11
Thus Titmouse had then polled within one of his positive reserve, and
yet was only eleven above Delamere, who had still _fifteen_ men to come
up!
"Where is the Quaint Club?" began to be more and more frequently and
earnestly asked among the crowd: but no one could give a satisfactory
answer; and more than one conjecture was hazarded, as to the possibility
of their coming up under _blue_ colors. But--_where were they_? Were
they watching the state of the poll, and under marching orders for the
moment when the enemy should be at his extremity? 'T was indeed a matter
of exquisite anxiety!--Between two o'clock and a quarter past, not one
voter was polled on either side; and the crowd, wearied with their long
labors of hissing and shouting, looked dispirited, listless, and
exhausted. By-and-by Mr. Gammon, and Messrs. Bloodsuck, (senior and
junior,) Mudflint, Woodlouse, Centipede, Ginblossom, Going Gone, Hic Hæc
Hoc, and others, made their appearance in the booth, around Titmouse.
They all looked sour, depressed, and fatigued. Their faces were indeed
enough to sadden and silence the crowd. Were Mr. Titmouse's forces
exhausted?--"Where's the Quaint Club?" roared out a man in the crowd,
addressing Mr. Gammon, who smiled wretchedly in silence. The reason of
his then appearing at the polling-booth was certainly to ascertain the
fate of the Quaint Club; but he had also another; for he had received
information that within a short time Dr. Tatham, and also fourteen of
the Yatton tenantry, were coming up to the poll. Mr. Gammon,
accordingly, had not stood there more than five minutes, before a sudden
hissing and groaning announced the approach of a Blue--in fact, it
proved to be little Dr. Tatham, who had been prevented from earlier
coming up, through attendance on one or two sick parishioners, in
different parts of the neighborhood, to whom he had been summoned
unexpectedly. It cost the quiet stout-hearted old man no little effort,
and occasioned him a little discomposure, elbowed, and jolted, and
insulted as he was; but at length there he stood before the
poll-clerks--who did not require to ask him his name or residence.
Gammon gazed at him with folded arms, and a stern and sad countenance.
Presently, inclining slightly towards Mudflint, he seemed to whisper in
that gentleman's ear; and--"Administer the bribery oath," said the
latter to the returning officer, eagerly.
"Sir," exclaimed that functionary, in a low tone, with amazement--"the
bribery oath--! To Dr. Tatham? Are you in earnest?"
"Do your duty, sir!" replied Mudflint, in a bitter, insulting tone.
"I regret to inform you, sir, that I am required to administer the
bribery oath to you," said the returning officer to Dr. Tatham, bowing
very low.
"What? What? The bribery oath? To _me_?" inquired Dr. Tatham, giving a
sudden start, and flushing violently: at which stringent evidence of his
guilt--
"Aha!" cried those of the crowd nearest to him--"Come, old gentleman!
Thou mun bolt it now!"
"Is it pretended to be believed," faltered Dr. Tatham, with visible
emotion--"that _I am bribed_?" But at that moment his eye happened to
light upon the exulting countenance of "the Reverend" Mr. Mudflint. It
calmed him. Removing his hat, he took the Testament into his hand, while
the crowd ceased hooting for a moment, in order to hear the oath read;
and with dignity he endured the indignity. He then recorded his vote for
Mr. Delamere; and after fixing a sorrowful and surprised eye on Mr.
Gammon, who stood with his hat slouched a good deal over his face, and
looking in another direction, withdrew; and as he turned his mild and
venerable face towards the crowd, the hissing subsided. Shortly
afterwards made their appearance amid great uproar, several of the
tenantry of Mr. Titmouse--all of them looking as if they had come up,
poor souls! rather to receive punishment for a crime, than to exercise
their elective franchise in a free country!--Gammon colored a little;
took out his pocket-book and pencil; and fixing on the first of the
tenantry, Mark Hackett, the eye, as it were, of a suddenly revived
serpent, wrote down his name in silence--but what an expression was on
his face! Thus he acted towards every one of those unhappy and doomed
persons; replacing his pocket-book whence he had taken it, as soon as
the last of the little body had polled. It was now a quarter to three
o'clock, (the poll closing finally at _four_,) and thus stood the
numbers:--
Delamere 149
Titmouse 146
---
Majority 3
On these figures being exhibited by an eager member of Mr. Delamere's
committee, there arose a tremendous uproar among the crowd, and cries of
"Tear it down! Tear it down! Ah! Bribery and corruption! Three groans
for Delamere! O--h! o----h! o----h!" Matters seemed, indeed, getting
desperate with the crowd; yet they seemed to feel a sort of comfort in
gazing at the stern, determined, but chagrined countenance of the ruling
spirit of the day, Mr. Gammon. He was a "deep hand,"--thought they--he
knew his game; and, depend upon it, he was only waiting till the enemy
was clean done, and then he would pour in the Quaint Club and crush them
forever. Thus thought hundreds before the hustings. Not a vote was
offered for a quarter of an hour; and the poll-clerks, with their pens
behind their ears, employed the interval in munching sandwiches, and
drinking sherry out of a black bottle--the onlookers cutting many jokes
upon them while thus pleasantly engaged. Symptoms were soon visible, in
the increasing proportion of blue rosettes becoming visible in and about
the crowd, that this promising state of things was reviving the hopes of
Mr. Delamere's party, while it as plainly depressed those in the yellow
interest. Not for one moment, during the whole of that close and
exciting contest, had Mr. Crafty quitted his little inner apartment,
where he had planned the battle, and conducted it to its present point
of success. Nor had his phlegmatic temperament suffered the least
excitement or disturbance: cold as ice though his heart might be, his
head was ever clear as crystal. Certainly his strategy had been
admirable. Vigilant, circumspect, equal to every emergency, he had
brought up his forces in perfect order throughout the day; the enemy had
not caught the least inkling of his real game. By his incessant,
ingenious, and _safe_ manœuvring, he had kept that dreaded body, the
Quaint Club, in play up to this advanced period of the day--in a state
of exquisite embarrassment and irresolution, balancing between hopes and
fears; and he had, moreover, rendered a temporary reverse on the field
upon which he then fought, of little real importance, by reason of the
measures he had taken to cut off the enemy entirely in their very next
move. He was now left entirely alone in his little room, standing
quietly before the fire with his hands behind him, with real composure,
feeling that he had done his duty, and awaiting the issue patiently. The
hustings, all this while, exhibited an exciting spectacle. Nearly
another quarter of an hour had elapsed, without a single vote being
added to the poll. The crowd was very great, and evidently sharing no
little of the agitation and suspense experienced by those within the
booth--(except Mr. Titmouse, whose frequent potations of brandy and
water during the day had composed him at length to sleep; and he
leaned--absolutely snoring!--against the corner of the booth, out of
sight of the crowd). The poll-clerks were laughing and talking
unconcernedly together. The leading Blues mustered strongly on their
part of the booth; elated undoubtedly, but with the feelings of men who
have desperately fought their way, inch by inch, sword to sword, bayonet
to bayonet, up to a point where they expect, nevertheless, momentarily
to be blown into the air. What _could_ have become of the Quaint Club?
thought _they_ also, with inward astonishment and apprehension. Gammon
continued standing, motionless and silent, with folded arms--his dark
surtout buttoned carelessly at the top, and his hat slouched over his
eyes, as if he sought to conceal their restlessness and agitation.
Excitement, intense anxiety, and physical exhaustion, were visible in
his countenance. He seemed indisposed to speak, even in answer to any
one who addressed him.
"O cursed Quaint Club!"--said he to himself--"O cursed Crafty! I am
beaten--beaten hollow--ridiculously! How the miscreants have bubbled me!
Crafty can now do without them, and won't endanger the election by
polling them! We are ruined! And what will be said at headquarters,
after what I have led them to believe--bah!" He almost stamped with the
vehemence of his emotions. "There's certainly yet a resource; nay, but
that also is too late--_a riot_--a nod, a breath of mine--those fine
fellows there--would _down_ with hustings, and all the poll-books be
destroyed!--No, no; it is not to be thought of--the time's gone by."
It was now nearly a quarter past three o'clock. "It's passing strange!"
thought Gammon, as he looked at his watch; "what can be in the wind? Not
a single man of them been up for either party! Perhaps, after all, Lord
De la Zouch may not have come up to their mark, and may now be merely
standing on the chance of _our_ being unable to come to terms with them.
But what can I do, without certain destruction, after what I have heard?
It will be simply jumping down into the pit."--A thought suddenly struck
him; and with forced calmness he slipped away from the polling-booth,
and, with an affectation of indifference, made his way to a house where
a trusty emissary awaited his orders. 'T was a Grilston man, a Yellow
voter, as much at Gammon's beck and call as Ben Bran was represented to
be at the command of Lord De la Zouch. Gammon despatched him on the
following enterprise--viz. to rush alarmedly among the club, who knew
_him_, but _not_ his _devotion to Gammon_--to tell them that he had just
discovered, by mere accident, the frightful danger in which they were
placed, owing to Mr. Gammon's being enraged against them on account of
their last proposal--that he had now made up his mind to the loss of the
election, and also to commence prosecutions for bribery against every
single member of the club; for that, having early suspected foul play,
he was in a position "to _nail_ every man of them," without fixing
himself on Mr. Titmouse. If he succeeded thus far--viz. in alarming
them--then, after apparently dire perplexity, he was suddenly to suggest
one mode of at once securing themselves, and foiling their bitter enemy,
Mr. Gammon; viz. hastening up to the polling-booth, without a word to
any one, and, by placing Titmouse at the top of the poll, _destroy
Gammon's motive for commencing his vindictive proceedings_, and so take
him in his own trap. Gammon then returned to the polling-booth, (having
named the signal by which he was to be apprised of success,) and resumed
his former position, without giving to any one near him the slightest
intimation of what he had been doing. If he imagined, however, that any
movement of _his_, at so critical a moment, had not been watched, he was
grievously mistaken. There were three persons whose sole business it had
been, during the whole of that day, to keep a lynx eye upon his every
motion, especially as connected with the Quaint Club. But his cunning
emissary was equal to the exigency; and having (unseen) reconnoitred the
streets for a few moments, he imagined that he detected one, if not two
spies, lurking about. He therefore slipped out of a low back window, got
down four or five back yards, and so across a small hidden alley, which
enabled him to enter, unperceivedly, into the back room of the house he
wished.
"Ben! Ben!" he gasped with an air of consternation.
"Hallo, man! what is 't?" quoth Ben.
"Done! every man of you sold! Mr. Gammon turned tail on you!--Just
happened to overhear him swear a solemn oath to Mr. Mudflint, that
before four-and-twenty hours"....
"Lord!--you did!--did you really?"
"So help me----!" exclaimed the man, aghast.
"What's to be done?" quoth Ben, the perspiration bursting out all over
his forehead. "We've been made the cursedest fools of by _some_
one!--Hang me if I think the old beast at Fotheringham, or the young cub
either, has ever meant"----
"What signifies it? It's all too late now."
"Isn't there _any_ way--eh? To be sure, I own I thought we were pitched
a _leetle_ too high with Mr. Gam"----
"But he has you _now_, though; and you'll find he's a devil
incarnate!--But stop, I see"--he seemed, as if a thought had suddenly
glanced across his puzzled and alarmed mind--"I'll tell you how to do
him, and save yourselves yet."
"O Lord!--eh?" exclaimed Ben, breathlessly.
"But are your men all together?"
"Oh ay! in five minutes' time we could all be on our way to the booth."
"Then don't lose a minute--or all's up forever!--Don't explain to them
the fix they're in till it's all over--and if _ever_ you tell 'em, or
any one, the bit o' service I've"----
"Never, Thomas, so help me----!" quoth Ben, grasping his companion's
hand, as in a vice.
"Off all of you to the booth, and poll for life and death, for
_Titmouse_."
"What? Come--come, Master Thomas!"
"Ay, ay--you fool! Don't you see? Make him win the election, and then,
_in course_, Gammon's no cause to be at you--he'll have got all he
wants."
"My eyes!" exclaimed Ben, as he suddenly perceived the stroke of policy.
He snapped his finger, buttoned his coat, popped out of the
house--within a few moments he was in the midst of the club, who were
all in a back yard, behind a small tavern which they frequented. "Now,
lads!" he exclaimed with a wink of his eye. He took the yellow and the
blue colors out of his bosom: returned the blue, and mounted the yellow:
so in a trice did every one present, not one single question having been
asked at Ben, in whom they had perfect confidence.
But, to return to Mr. Gammon. It was now a moment or two past the half
hour--there was scarcely half an hour more before the election must
close. The mob were getting sullen. The Quaint Club were being asked
for--now with hisses, then with cheers. All eyes were on Gammon, who
felt that they were. His face bore witness to the intensity of his
emotions; he did not any longer even attempt to disguise his desperate
disappointment. His nerves were strung to their highest pitch of
tension; and his eye glanced incessantly, but half-closed, towards a
corner house at a little distance; ah! that eye was suddenly lit up, as
it were, with fire--never had been such an instantaneous change seen in
a man's face before. He had at length caught the appointed signal; a man
appeared at a window, and appeared accidentally to drop a little stick
into the street. A mighty sigh escaped from the pent-up bosom of Gammon,
and relieved him from a sense of suffocation. His feelings might have
been compared to those excited in our great commander, when the
Prussians made their appearance at Waterloo. The battle was won; defeat
converted into triumph; but suddenly recollecting himself--aware that
every muscle of his face was watched--he relapsed into his former gloom.
Presently were heard the approaching sounds of music--nearer and nearer
came the clash of cymbals, the clangor of trombone and trumpet, the roll
of the drum;--all the crowd turned their faces towards the quarter
whence the sounds came, and within a few seconds' time was seen turning
the corner, full on its way to the booth, the banner of the Quaint
Club, with yellow rosettes streaming from the top of each pole--yellow
ribbons on every one's breast. THE PEOPLE'S CAUSE HAD TRIUMPHED! Their
oppressors were prostrate! A wild and deafening shout of triumph burst
from the crowd, as if they had been one man; and continued for several
minutes intermingled with the inspiriting sounds of the noble air--"Rule
Britannia!" played by the two bands, (that of Mr. Titmouse having
instantly joined them.) On marched the club, two and two, arm in arm,
with rapid step; their faces flushed with excitement and
exultation--their hands vehemently shaken by the shouting crowd, who
opened a broad lane for them up to the polling-booth. Oh, the contrast
exhibited in the faces of those standing _there_! What gloom, what
vexation, what despair, on the one hand--what signs of frantic
excitement, joy, and triumph, on the other! "Titmouse!" cried the first
member of the club, as he gave his vote; "Titmouse!" cried the second;
"Titmouse!" cried the third; "Titmouse!" cried the fourth. The battle
was won. Mr. Titmouse was in a majority, which went on increasing every
minute, amid tremendous cheering. Mr. Gammon's face and figure would at
that moment have afforded a study for a picture; the strongly repressed
feeling of triumph yet indicating its swelling influence upon his marked
and expressive countenance, where an accurate eye might have detected
also the presence of deep anxiety. Again and again were his hands shaken
by those near him--Mudflint, Bloodsuck, Woodlouse, Centipede, Going
Gone, Ginblossom--as they enthusiastically gave him credit for the
transcendent skill he had exhibited, and the glorious result it had
secured. As the church clock struck four, the books were closed, and the
election was declared at an end, with eighteen of Mr. Titmouse's voters
yet unpolled! Within a few minutes afterwards, Mr. Going Gone hastily
chalked upon the board, and held it up exultingly to the crowd,--
Titmouse 237
Delamere 149
----
Majority 88!
"Hurrah!--hurrah!--hip, hip, hip, hurrah!" burst from the crowd,
while hands were upraised and whirled round, hats flung into
the air, and every other mark of popular excitement exhibited.
"Titmouse!--Titmouse!--NINE TIMES NINE FOR MR. TITMOUSE!" was called
for, and responded to with thrilling and overpowering effect. The newly
elected member, however, could not be pinched, or shaken, or roused, out
of the drunken stupor into which, from the combined influence of liquor
and excitement, he had sunk. To enable him to go through the responsible
duties of the day--viz. bobbing his head every now and then to the
worthy and independent electors who came to invest him with the proud
character of their representative in the House of Commons--he had
brought in his pocket a flask of brandy, which had been thrice
replenished: in a word, the popular idol was decidedly not presentable:
and under the impulse of strong emotion, Mr. Gammon, infinitely to the
disgust of the Reverend Smirk Mudflint, who was charged up to his throat
with combustible matter, and ready to go off at an instant's notice,
stepped forward, and on removing his hat, was received with several
distinct and long-continued rounds of applause. Silence having been at
length partially restored--
"Yes, gentlemen," he commenced in an energetic tone, and with an excited
and determined air and manner, "well may you utter those shouts of joy,
for you have fought a noble fight, and won a glorious victory, (_great
cheering._) Your cause, the cause of freedom and good government, is
triumphant over all opposition, (_immense cheering._) The hideous forms
of bigotry and tyranny are at this moment lying crushed and writhing,
(vehement cheering rendered the rest of the sentence inaudible.)
Gentlemen, truth and independence have this day met and overthrown
falsehood and slavery, (_cheers,_) in spite of the monstrous weapons
with which they came into the field, (_groans_)--bribery, (_groans,_)
corruption, (_groans,_) intimidation, (_hisses,_) coercion, and
treachery, (_mingled groans and hisses._) But, gentlemen, thank God, all
was in vain! (_enthusiastic cheering._) I will not say that a defeated
despot is at this moment sitting with sullen scowl in a neighboring
castle, (_tremendous shouts of applause;_) all his schemes frustrated,
all his gold scattered in vain, and trampled under foot by the virtuous
electors whom he sought first to corrupt, and then degrade into slaves,
(_great cheering._) Gentlemen, let us laugh at his despair, (_loud and
prolonged laughter;_) but let us rejoice like men, like freemen, that
the degraded and execrable _faction_ to which he belongs, is defeated,
(_cheering._) Gentlemen, if ever there was a contest in which public
spirit and principle triumphed over public and private profligacy, this
has been it; and by this time to-morrow, hundreds of constituencies will
be told, as their own struggles are approaching, to--_look at
Yatton_--to emulate her proud and noble example; and England will soon
be enabled to throw off the hateful incubus that has so long oppressed
her, (_immense cheering._) But, gentlemen, you are all exhausted, (_No!
no! and vehement cheers;_) Mr. Titmouse's friends are _all_ exhausted
after the great labor and excitement of this glorious day, and need
repose, in order that on the morrow we may meet refreshed, to enjoy the
full measure of our triumph, (_cheering._) In particular, your
distinguished representative, Mr. Titmouse, worn out with the excitement
of the day, long depressed by the adverse aspect of the poll, was so
overpowered with the sudden and glorious change effected by that band
of patriots who----(the rest of the sentence was drowned in cheering.)
Gentlemen, he is young, and unaccustomed to such extraordinary and
exciting scenes, (_hear, hear, hear!_) but by the morrow he will have
recovered sufficiently to present himself before you, and thank you with
enthusiasm and gratitude, (_cheers._) In his name, gentlemen, I do, from
my soul, thank you for the honor which you have conferred upon him, and
assure you that he considers any past success with which Providence may
have blessed him, (_hear, hear, hear!_) as nothing, when compared with
the issue of this day's struggle, (_cheering._) Rely upon it, that his
conduct in Parliament will not disgrace you, (_no, no, no!_) And now,
gentlemen, I must conclude, trusting that with victory will cease
animosity, and that there will be an immediate declaration of those
feelings of frank and manly cordiality, and good feeling, which ought to
distinguish free fellow-citizens, and which, above all, are signally
characteristic of Englishmen, (_cheering._) Shake hands, gentlemen, with
a fallen enemy, (_we will, we will!_) and forget, having conquered, that
you ever fought."
With these words, uttered with the fervor and eloquence which had indeed
distinguished the whole of his brief address, he resumed his hat, amid
tremendous shouts of "three times three for Mr. Titmouse!"--"three times
three for Mr. Gammon!"--"nine times nine groans for Mr. Delamere!"--all
of which were given with tumultuous energy. The two bands approached;
the procession formed; the nearly insensible Titmouse, his face deadly
pale, and his hat awry, was partly supported and partly dragged along
between Mr. Gammon and Mr. Going Gone; and to the inspiring air of "See
the Conquering Hero comes," and accompanied by the cheering crowd, they
all marched in procession to Mr. Titmouse's committee-room. He was
hurried up-stairs; then led into a bedroom; and there soon, alas!
experienced the overmastering power of sickness; which instantly
obliterated all recollection of his triumph, and made him utterly
unconscious of the brilliant position to which he had just been
elevated--equally to the honor of himself and his constituency, who
justly and proudly regarded
"TITTLEBAT TITMOUSE, ESQ., M. P."
as the glorious first-fruits to them of the glorious "_Bill for giving
Everybody Everything_."
At a late hour, that night, an interview took place between Ben Bran and
Mr. Gammon, of which all that I shall say at present is, that it was
equally confidential and satisfactory. There can be no harm, however, in
intimating that Mr. Gammon made no allusion to the arrival of the Greek
kalends; but he _did_ to----the fifteenth day after the meeting of
Parliament.[2] He satisfied Ben--and through him the Quaint Club--that
Lord De la Zouch's agents had been only deluding them, and had laid a
deep plan for ensnaring the club--which Gammon had early seen through,
and endeavored to defeat. A little circumstance which happened some two
or three days afterwards, seemed to corroborate the truth of at least a
portion of his statements--viz. eight prosecutions for bribery were
brought against so many members of the Quaint Club: and on their hastily
assembling to consult upon so startling an incident, one still more so
came to light;--_five leading members were not to be found_!! Writs in
actions for penalties of £500 each, were on the same day served
upon--Barnabas Bloodsuck, Smirk Mudflint, (otherwise called _the
Reverend_ Smirk Mudflint,) Cephas Woodlouse, and--woe is me that I
should have it to record!--"OILY GAMMON, gentleman, one of the attorneys
of our lord the king, before the king himself, at Westminster." The
amount claimed from him was £4,000; from Bloodsuck £3,000; and from
Mudflint £2,500, which would, alas! have alone absorbed all the
pew-rents of his little establishment for one hundred years to come, if
his system of moral teaching should so long live. What was the
consternation of these gentlemen to discover, when in their turn they
called a private meeting of their leading friends, that one of them also
was missing--viz. _Judas M'Do'em_! Moreover, it was palpable that amid
an ominous silence and calmness on the other side--even on the part of
the _True Blue_--the most guarded and systematic and persevering search
for evidence was going on; and with all Gammon's self-possession, the
sudden sight of Mr. Crafty stealthily quitting the house of an humble
Yellow voter, a week after the election, occasioned him somewhat
sickening sensations. Gammon was not unaccustomed to wade in deep
waters; but these were _very_ deep! However, a great point had been
gained. Mr. Titmouse was M. P. for Yatton; and Mr. Gammon had maintained
his credit in high quarters, where he had stood pledged as to the result
of the election; having been long before assured that every member
returned into the new Parliament was worth his weight in gold. Such were
the thoughts passing through the acute and powerful mind of Gammon, as
he sat late one night, shortly afterwards, alone at Yatton, Mr. Titmouse
having retired to his bedroom half stupefied with liquor, and anxious to
complete matters by smoking himself to sleep. The wind whistled
cheerlessly round the angle of the Hall in which was situated the room
where he sat, his feet resting on the fender, his arms folded, and his
eyes fixed on the fire. Then he took up the newspaper recently arrived
from town, which contained a report of his speech to the electors at the
close of the poll; it was the organ of the Whig party--the _Morning
Growl_; and its leading article commented in very encomiastic terms
upon his address, "given in another part of the paper." His soul heaved
with disgust at the thoughts of his own dissimulation;--"Independence!"
"Purity of Election!" "Public Principle!" "_Triumph of Principle!_"
"Popular enthusiasm!" "Man of the people!"--"_Look_," thought
he--"eugh--_at Titmouse_! Is _representation_ an utter farce--a mere
_imaginary_ privilege of the people? If not, what but public swindlers
are we who procure the return of such idiots as--faugh! Would I had been
on the other"----He rose, sighed, lit his chamber candle, and retired to
bed, but not to rest; for he spent several hours in endeavoring to
retrace every step which he had taken in the election--with a view to
ascertain how far it could be proved that he had legally implicated
himself. The position in which, indeed, he and those associated with him
in the proceedings, were placed, was one which required his most anxious
consideration, with a view, not merely to the retention of Mr.
Titmouse's seat, so hardly won, but to the tremendous personal
liabilities with which it was sought to fix himself, Gammon. The
inquiries which he instituted into the practices which he had been led
to believe prevailed openly upon the other side, led to no satisfactory
results. If the enemy had bribed, they had done so with consummate skill
and caution. Yet he chose to assume the _air_ of one who thought
otherwise; and gave directions for writs for penalties to be forthwith
served upon Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Gold, Mr. St. Aubyn, and Mr.
Milnthorpe--all of whom, as indeed he had expected, only laughed at him.
But it was wofully different as regarded himself and his friends; for,
before Mr. Crafty took his departure from Yatton, he had collected a
body of evidence, against all of them, of the most fearful stringency
and completeness. In fact, Lord De la Zouch had determined that, if it
cost him ten thousand pounds more, he would spare no effort, as well to
secure the seat for his son, as to punish those who had been guilty of
the atrocious practices which had been revealed to him.
Need I say with what intense interest, with what absorbing anxiety, the
progress of this contest had been watched by the Aubreys? From Lady De
la Zouch and other friends, but more especially from Dr. Tatham, who had
regularly forwarded the _True Blue_, and also written frequent and full
letters, they had learned, from time to time, all that was going on. Mr.
Aubrey had prepared them for the adverse issue of the affair; he had
never looked for anything else; but could he or any of them feel
otherwise than a painful and indignant sympathy with the little doctor,
on reading his account of the gross insult which had been offered to him
at the hustings? Kate, before she had read half of it, sprang from her
chair, threw down the letter, cried bitterly, then kissed the venerable
doctor's handwriting, and walked to and fro, flashing lightning from her
eyes, as her vivid fancy painted to her with painful distinctness that
scene of wanton and brutal outrage on one of the most gentle,
benevolent, and spotless of God's creatures, whose name was associated
in all their minds with everything that was pious, pure, and
good--indeed they were all powerfully affected. As for _the Reverend_
Smirk Mudflint--"Presumptuous wretch!" quoth Kate, as her flashing eye
met that of her brother: and he felt that his feelings, like her own,
could not be expressed. The first account she received of the outrage
perpetrated on Delamere was in the columns of the _True Blue_, which,
being published on the evening of the nomination, had been instantly
forwarded to town by Dr. Tatham. It blanched her cheek; she then felt a
mist coming over her eyes--a numbness--a faintness ensued, and she sank
upon the sofa, and swooned. It was a long while, after she had
recovered, before a flood of tears relieved her excitement. 'T was no
use disguising matters, even had she felt so disposed, before those who
felt so exquisite and vivid a sympathy with her; and who did not
restrain their ardent and enthusiastic expressions of admiration at the
spirited and noble manner in which Delamere had commenced and carried on
his adventure. At whose instance, and to please whom, had it been really
undertaken? Kate's heart fluttered intensely at the bare notion of
seeing him again in Vivian Street. He would come--she felt--with a sort
of _claim_ upon her!--And he made his at once desired and dreaded
appearance some days afterwards, quite unexpectedly. Kate was playing on
the piano, and had not heard his knock; so that he was actually in the
drawing-room before she was aware of his being in London, or had formed
the slightest expectation of such an event.
"Heavens, Mr. Delamere!--Is it you?" she stammered, rising from the
piano, her face having suddenly become pale.
"Ay, sweet Kate--unless I am become some one else, as--_the rejected of
Yatton_"--he replied fondly, as he grasped her hands fervently in his
own, and led her to the sofa.
"Don't--don't--Mr. Delamere"--said she, faintly, striving to disengage
one of her hands, which she instantly placed before her eyes to conceal
her rising emotion. Her brother and Mrs. Aubrey considerately came to
her relief, by engaging Delamere in conversation. He saw their object;
and releasing Miss Aubrey, for the present, from his attentions, soon
had entered into a long and very animated account of all his Yatton
doings. In spite of herself, as it were, Kate drew near the table, and,
engrossed with interest, listened, and joined in the conversation, as if
it had not been actually DELAMERE who was sitting beside her. He made
very light of the little accident of the wounded lip--but as he went on,
Kate looked another way, her eyes obstructed with tears, and her very
heart yearning towards him. "Oh, Mr. Delamere!"--she suddenly and
vehemently exclaimed--"what _wretches_ they were to use you so!" and
then blushed scarlet.
"Well--see if I'm not M.P. for Yatton, yet"--said Delamere, with a
confident air, just before he rose to go--"and that within a few weeks,
too, and _then_"----
"Don't be too sure of _that_," said Aubrey, gravely.
"Sure? I've no more doubt of it," replied Delamere, briskly, "than I
have of our now being in Vivian Street--if there be the slightest
pretence to fairness in a committee of the House of Commons. Why, upon
my honor, we've got no fewer than eleven distinct, unequivocal,
well-supported"----
"If election committees are to be framed of such people as appear to
have been returned"----....
Did, however, the gaudy flower of Titmouse's victory at Yatton contain
the seeds of inevitable defeat at St. Stephen's? 'T was surely a grave
question; and had to be decided by a tribunal, the constitution of
which, however, the legislature hath since, in its wisdom, seen fit
altogether to alter. With matters, therefore, as they then were--but now
are not--I deal freely, as with history.
The first glance which John Bull caught of his new House of Commons,
under the _Bill for giving Everybody Everything_, almost turned his
stomach, strong as it was, inside out; and he stood for some time
staring with feelings of alternate disgust and dismay. Really, as far at
least as outward appearance and behavior went, there seemed scarcely
fifty gentlemen among them; and those appeared ashamed and afraid of
their position. 'T was, indeed, as though the scum that had risen to
the simmering surface of the caldron placed over the fierce fires of
revolutionary ardor, had been ladled off and flung upon the floor of the
House of Commons. The shock and mortification produced such an effect
upon John, that he took for some time to his bed, and required a good
deal of severe treatment, before he in any degree recovered himself. It
was, indeed, a long while before he got quite right in his head!--As the
new House anticipated a good deal of embarrassment from the presidency
of the experienced and dignified person who had for many years filled
the office of Speaker, they chose a new one; and then, breathing freely,
started fair for the session.
Some fifty seats were contested; and one of the very earliest duties of
the new Speaker, was to announce the receipt of "a petition from certain
electors of the borough of Yatton, complaining of an undue return; and
praying the House to appoint a time for taking the same into its
consideration." Mr. Titmouse, at that moment, was modestly sitting
immediately behind the Treasury bench, next to a respectable
pork-butcher, who had been returned for an Irish county, and with whom
Mr. Titmouse had been dining at a neighboring tavern; where he had drunk
whiskey and water enough to elevate him to the point of rising to
present several petitions from his constituents--_first_, from Smirk
Mudflint, and others, for opening the universities of Oxford and
Cambridge to Dissenters of every denomination, and abolishing the
subscription to the Thirty-Nine Articles; _secondly_, from Mr. Hic Hæc
Hoc, praying for a commission to inquire into the propriety of
translating the Eton Latin and Greek grammars into English; _thirdly_,
from several electors, praying the House to pass an act for exempting
members of that House from the operation of the Bankruptcy and
Insolvency Laws, as well as from arrest on mesne and final process; and
_lastly_, from certain other electors, praying the House to issue a
commission to inquire into the cause of the _Tick_ in sheep. I say this
was the auspicious commencement of his senatorial career, meditated by
Mr. Titmouse, when his ear caught the above startling words uttered by
the Speaker; which so disconcerted him--prepared though he was for some
such move on the part of his enemies, that he resolved to postpone the
presentation of the petitions of his enlightened constituents, till the
ensuing day. After sitting in a dreadful fright for some twenty minutes
or so, he felt it necessary to go out and calm his flurried spirits with
a glass of brandy and soda-water. As he was leaving the House, a little
incident happened to him, which was attended with very memorable
consequences.
"A word with you, sir," whispered a commanding voice, in his ear, as he
felt himself caught hold of by some one sitting at the corner of the
Treasury Bench--"I'll follow you out--_quietly_, mind."
The speaker was a Mr. SWINDLE O'GIBBET, a tall, elderly, and somewhat
corpulent person, with a broad-brimmed hat, a slovenly surtout, and
vulgar swaggering carriage; a ruddy shining face, that constantly wore a
sort of greasy smile; and an unctuous eye, with a combined expression of
cunning, cowardice, and ferocity. He spoke in a rich brogue, and with a
sort of confidential and cringing familiarity; yet, withal, 't was with
the air and the tone of a man conscious of possessing great direct
influence out of doors, and indirect influence within doors. 'T was, in
a word, at once insinuating and peremptory--submissive and truculent.
Several things had concurred to give Titmouse a very exalted notion of
Mr. O'Gibbet. First, a noble speech of his, in which he showed infinite
"_pluck_" in persevering against shouts of "order" from all parts of the
House for an hour together; secondly, his sitting on the front bench,
often close beside little LORD BULFINCH, the leader of the House. His
Lordship was a Whig; and though, as surely I need hardly say, there are
thousands of Whigs every whit as pure and high-minded as their Tory
rivals, his Lordship was a very _bitter_ Whig. The bloom of original
Whiggism, however, ripening fast into the rottenness of Radicalism, gave
out at length an odor which was so offensive to many of his own early
friends, that they were forced to withdraw from him. Personally,
however, he was of respectable character, and a man of considerable
literary pretensions, and enjoyed that Parliamentary influence generally
secured to the possessor of talent, tact, experience, and temper. Now,
it certainly argued some resolution in Mr. O'Gibbet to preserve an air
of swaggering assurance and familiarity beside his aristocratic little
neighbor, whose freezing demeanor towards him--for his Lordship evinced
even a sort of shudder of disgust when addressed by him--Mr. O'Gibbet
felt to be visible to all around. Misery makes strange bed-fellows, but
surely politics stranger still; and there could not have been a more
striking instance of it, than in Lord Bulfinch and Mr. O'Gibbet sitting
side by side--as great a contrast in their persons as in their
characters. But the third and chief ground of Titmouse's admiration of
Mr. O'Gibbet, was a conversation--private and unheard the parties had
imagined it, in the lobby of the House; but every word whereof had our
inquisitive, but not excessively scrupulous, little friend contrived to
overhear--between Mr. O'Gibbet and Mr. FLUMMERY, a smiling supple Lord
of the Treasury, and whipper-in of the Ministry. Though generally
confident enough, on this occasion he trembled, frowned, and looked
infinitely distressed. Mr. O'Gibbet chucked him under the chin,
familiarly and good-humoredly, and said--"Oh, murther and Irish! what's
easier?--But it lies in a nut-shell. If you won't do it, I can't swim;
and if I can't swim, you sink--every mother's son of you. Oh, come,
come--give me a bit of a push at this pinch."
"That's what you've said so often"----
"Fait, an' what if I have? And look at the _shoves_ that I've given
_you_," said Mr. O'Gibbet, with sufficient sternness.
"But a--a--really we shall be found out! The House suspects already that
you and we"----
"Bah! bother! hubbabo! Propose you it; I get up and oppose
it--_vehemently_, do you mind--an' the blackguards opposite will carry
it for you, out of love for me, ah, ha!--Aisy, aisy--softly say I! Isn't
that the way to get along?" and Mr. O'Gibbet winked his eye.
Mr. Flummery, however, looked unhappy, and remained silent and
irresolute.
"Oh, my dear sir--_exporrige frontem_! Get along wid you, you know it's
for your own good," said Mr. O'Gibbet; and shoving him on
good-humoredly, left the lobby, while Mr. Flummery passed on, with a
forced smile, to his seat. He continued comparatively silent, and very
wretched, the whole night.
Two hours before the House broke up, but not till after Lord Bulfinch
had withdrawn, Mr. Flummery, seizing his opportunity, got up to do the
bidding, and eventually fulfilled the prophecy, of Mr. O'Gibbet, amid
bitter and incessant jeers and laughter from the opposition.
"Another such victory and we're undone," said Mr. Flummery, with a
furious whisper, soon afterwards to Mr. O'Gibbet.
"Och, go to the ould divil wid ye!" replied Mr. O'Gibbet, thrusting his
tongue into his cheek, and moving off.
Now Titmouse had contrived to overhear almost every word of the above
curious colloquy, and had naturally formed a prodigious estimate of Mr.
O'Gibbet, and his influence in the highest quarters.--But to
proceed.--Within a few minutes' time might have been seen Titmouse and
O'Gibbet earnestly conversing together, remote from observation, in one
of the passages leading from the lobby. Mr. O'Gibbet spoke all the while
in a tone which at once solicited and commanded attention. "Sir, of
course you know you've not a ghost of a chance of keeping your seat?
I've heard all about it. You'll be beat, sir,--dead beat; will never be
able to sit in this _Parlimint_, sir, for your own borough, and be
liable to no end o' penalties for bribery, besides. Oh, _my dear sir_,
how I wish I had been at your elbow! This would never have happened!"
"Oh, sir! 'pon my soul--I--I"--stammered Titmouse, quite thunderstruck
at Mr. O'Gibbet's words.
"Hush--st--_hush_, wid your chattering tongue, sir, or we'll be
overheard, and you'll be ruined," interrupted Mr. O'Gibbet, looking
suspiciously around.
"I--I--beg your pardon, sir, but I'll give up my seat. I'm most uncommon
sorry that ever--curse me if I care about being a mem"----
"Oh! and is _that_ the way you spake of being a mimber o' Parlimint? For
shame, for shame, not to feel the glory of your position, sir! There's
_millions_ o' gintlemen envying you, just now!--Sir, I see that you're
likely to cut a figure in the House."
"But, begging your pardon, sir, if it _costs_ such a precious long
figure--why, I've come down some four or five thousand pounds already,"
quoth Titmouse, twisting his hand into his hair.
"An' what if ye have? What's that to a gintleman o' your consequence in
the country? It's, moreover, only once and for all; only stick in
_now_--and you stay in for seven years, and come in for nothing next
general election; and now--d'ye hear me, sir? for time presses--retire,
and give the seat to a Tory if you will--(what's the name o' the
blackguard? Oh, it's young Delamere)--and have your own borough stink
under your nose all your days! But can you keep a secret like a
gintleman? Judging from your appearance, I should say yes--sir--is it
so?" Titmouse placed his hand over his beating heart, and with a great
oath solemnly declared that he would be "mum as death;" on which Mr.
O'Gibbet lowered his tone to a faint whisper--"You'll distinctly
understand I've nothing to do with it personally, but it's impossible,
sir--d'ye hear?--to fight the divil except with his own weapons--and
there are too many o' the enemies o' the people in the House--a little
_money_, sir--eh? Aisy, aisy--softly say I! Isn't that the way to get
along?" added Mr. O'Gibbet, with a rich leer, and poking Titmouse in the
ribs.
"'Pon my life that'll do--and--and--what's the figure, sir?"