PART III. MISCELLANEOUS. ELECTIONS. Universal Suffrage.-Selden says: "There was a time when all men had their voice in choosing knights (of the shire). About Henry the Sixth's time they found the inconvenience, so one Parliament made a law, that only he that had forty shillings per annum should give his voice; they under should be excluded. They made the law who had the voice of all, as well under forty shillings as above; and thus it continues at this day. All consent civilly to a Parliament; women are involved in the men, children in those of perfect age, those that are under forty shillings a year in those that have forty shillings a year, those of forty shillings in the knights." 66 Early Election Disturbances. In the eighth and tenth years of the reign of Henry VI. (1430—1432), laws were enacted limiting the electors to such as were possessed of forty shillings a year in land, free from all burdens, within the county. The preamble of one statute is remarkable : Whereas the elections of knights have of late, in many counties of England, been made by outrages and excessive numbers of people, many of them of small substance and value, yet pretending to a right equal to the best knights and esquires; whereby manslaughters, riots, batteries, and divisions among the gentlemen and other people of the same counties shall very likely rise and be, unless due remedy be provided in this behalf," &c. We may learn (says Hume) from these expressions what an important matter the election of a member of Parliament was now become in England. A Sheriff Assaulted for Delaying a Writ.-Richard Calle writes to John Paston about 1450: "I recommend me unto your good mastership; like you to weet (know) that on Childermas Day there were much people at Norwich at the shire (county court), because it was noised in the shire that the under-sheriff had a writ to make a new election, wherefore the people was grieved because they had laboured so often, saying to the sheriff that he had the writ, and plainly he should not away unto the time the writ were read. The sheriff answered and said that he had no writ, nor wist who had it; hereupon the people peaced and stilled unto the time the shire was done, and after that done, the people called upon him, 'Kill him! head him!' and so John Damme, with help of others, got him out of the shire-house, and with much labour brought him into Spurrier Row, and there the people met against him, and so they avoided him into an house, and kept fast the door unto the time the mayor was sent for, and the sheriff, to strengthen him and to convey him away, or else he had been slain. Wherefore divers of the thrifty men came to me, desiring that I should write unto your mastership to let you have understanding of the guiding of the people, for they be full sorry of this trouble; and that it please you to send them your advice how they shall be guided and ruled, for they were purposed to have gathered an hundred or two hundred of the thriftiest men, and to have come up to the King to let the King have understanding of their mocking." Influence of Peers on Elections.—The following letter, written about the middle of the 15th century, and included in the Paston series, shows the influence then exercised by peers in elections for the Lower House, and the estimation in which members of that House were at that time held: "The Duchess of Norfolk to our right trusty and well-beloved John Paston, Esq. We greet you heartily well, and forasmuch as it is thought right necessary for divers causes that my lord have at this time in the Parliament such persons as belong unto him, and be of his menial servants-wherein we conceive your goodwill and diligence shall be right expedient-we heartily desire and pray you that, at the contemplation of these our letters, as our special trust is in you, ye will give and apply your voice unto our right well-beloved cousin and servants, John Howard and Sir Roger Chamberlayn, to be knights of the shire; exhorting all such others as by your wisdom shall now be behoveful, to the good exploit and conclusion of the same. And in your faithful attendance and true devoir in this part ye shall do unto my lord and us a singular pleasure, and cause us hereafter to thank you therefore, as ye shall hold you right well content and agreed with the grace of God, who have you ever in his keeping." Court Dictation.-The writs issued to summon a Parliament in 1553 were accompanied by a letter in the name of the King (Edward VI.) to each sheriff, which concluded as follows: "Our pleasure is that where our Privy Council, or any of them, shall recommend men of learning and wisdom, in such case their directions be regarded and followed, to have this assembly to be of the most chiefest men in our realm for advice and good counsel." The "Prince Elector."-Evelyn writes: March 5, 1685 [a few days after the accession of James II.]—A Parliament was now summon'd, and greate industry us'd to obtaine elections which might promote the Court interest, most of the corporations being now by their new charters impower'd to make what returnes of members they pleased. May 22.-Mr. Seymour made a bold speech against many elections, and would have had those members who (he pretended) were obnoxious to withdraw, till they had clear'd the matter of their being legally return'd; but no one seconded him. The truth is, there were many of the new members whose elections and returns were universally censur'd, many of them being persons of no condition or interest in the nation, or places for which they serv'd, especially in Devon, Cornwall, Norfolk, &c., said to have been recommended by the Court, and from the effect of the new charters changing the electors. It was reported that Lord Bath carried down with him into Cornwall no fewer than fifteen charters, so that some call'd him the Prince Elector. A Court Candidate in the Seventeenth Century.-Sir John Reresby, Governor of the city of York in the reign of James II., gives in his "Memoirs" the following account of the mode in which the Court manipulated the constituencies for the purpose of securing the return of its own nominees: "I sent notice to the mayor and others of York that I intended to stand for one of their representatives at the ensuing election, and found the magistracy would be for the most part against me, though I had good encouragement from the other citizens. The truth is I was at some loss how to act in this matter; I was not desirous to be of this Parliament, not only because I was grown infirm and unfit to attend the duty of the House, but also because I was afraid the King would expect more from me than my conscience would extend to; for, as I was determined not to violate this on the one side, so I could hardly resolve to offend so good a master on the other. In these straits I went to the King at Windsor, and showed him the letters I had sent to York, and the answers I had received thereto; desiring his Majesty to indulge me with replies to three queries I had to make. (1.) Whether, seeing the contest was like to be both chargeable and difficult, and the success extremely doubtful, it was his pleasure I should stand? He replied positively, I should. (2.) Whether, as the opposition was very strong against me, he would impute it to my remissness if I miscarried? He promised he would not. (3.) Whether he would assist me all he could to prevent my being baffled, and particularly by such means as I should propose to him? His answer was, Yes; and he gave immediate orders to the Lords for purging of Corporations, to make whatever change I desired in the city of York, and to put in or out (which the King, it seems, had reserved to himself by the last charter) just as I pleased. Then, taking leave of the King, and presenting him with some Roman medals, which he took very kindly, he again charged me to do what I could to be chosen." The worthy knight proceeds to narrate the steps he took to carry out the King's wishes; but in the meantime the Prince of Orange landed-an event by which these and many more important schemes were rendered futile. Electioneering Strategy in 1685.-The Whig candidate for Buckinghamshire, Thomas Wharton, eldest son of Philip Lord Wharton, was a man distinguished alike by dexterity and by audacity, and destined to play a conspicuous, though not always a respectable part, in the politics of several reigns. He had been one of those members of the House of Commons who had carried up the Exclusion Bill to the bar of the Lords. The Court was therefore bent on throwing him out by fair or foul means. The Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys himself came down into Buckingham An ex-Prizefighter in Parliament.-John Gully, who had been a prize-fighter and "champion of England," and who afterwards took to the turf and made much money by betting and racing, was returned to the House of Commons for Pontefract on the passing of the Reform Bill, in opposition to Lord Mexborough. He was also elected to the ensuing Parliament. He eventually resigned his seat on account of ill-health, and gave his entire attention to the turf, twice winning the Derby as well as other of the most important races. On his first election an epigram of the day ran as follows: "If anyone ask why should Pontefract sully He's broken the bridges of so many noses." 66 “Small-Journal Wynn."-Sir Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, who died in 1850, sat in the House of Commons as representative of Montgomeryshire for fifty-one years, and at his death was father" of the House. He held office for a time under Earl Grey as Secretary for War, but resigned on account of his disapproval of the Reform Bill. His knowledge of Parliamentary rule and precedent was highly esteemed, and obtained for him the above nickname. He has before been alluded to in connection with a saying of Brougham's (p. 231); and, in the Autobiography of his lordship, Charles Wynn is also mentioned under the name of "Squeak." The reason for this appellation is thus explained: Charles Wynn was brother to Sir Watkin, and from a peculiarity in the utterance of the latter, and the shrillness of Charles's voice, they had a joint nickname as Bubble and Squeak." 66 Quizzing a Bill out of the House.-Sir Andrew Agnew was identified in the House of Commons with the question of Sabbath observance. He brought in a measure so extreme in its nature that his friends appealed to his judgment in private against such a scheme. Professor Pryme tells us, "He said, 'I quite agree with you as to the absurdity of some of the enactments, but it is the bill of the Society for the Better Observance of the Sabbath, and I cannot help it.' It was lost, of course, because it went too far, but the discussion produced great good throughout the kingdom, in leading people of all classes to attend to the subject, and improve the observance of the Lord's Day. The last time that Sir A. Agnew brought forward his bill, Mr. Hawes, M.P. for Lambeth, and two or three other members, succeeded in, I may say, quizzing it out of the House. We were in committee of the whole House, and I was in the chair. When we came to that clause which enacted that it should be unlawful for any cab or public carriage to be let out on a Sunday, Hawes moved as an amendment, or for any private carriage to be used.' Before putting it to the vote, Sir A. Agnew appealed to me not to do so. I answered that, as it had been moved and seconded gravely, I had no option. The clause was carried by a majority, and no more was heard of the bill." Attack on a Royal Speech.-Colonel Sibthorp, who for many years represented Lincoln, wore a very long beard, which was never dese 66 crated by touch of steel. He is referred to on a previous page as one of the subjects of O'Connell's wit (p. 258). His speeches were usually brief but extremely forcible; and he never failed to amuse the House, undesignedly, both by his matter and his manner. The following is an example of his peculiar style. On the evening of the explanations which ensued in 1851 upon the dismissal of Lord Palmerston by his chief, the colonel followed Lord John Russell's grave and deliberate speech by a sudden onslaught on the effects of the Great Exhibition. There was," he said, "but one opinion, and it was universal, as to the gross insult which had been offered to the merchants and tradesmen of this country by the wholesale introduction of foreigners and their wares which had taken place in consequence of the Exhibition; and, for his own part, he would not for a thousand guineas enter the walls or approach within smell of the unwieldy, ill-devised, and unwholesome Castle of Glass. The speech which the ministers had put into her Majesty's lips was a mass of trickery, trash, and trumpery. It was they who were responsible for the sentiments it contained, and he sincerely hoped that the Queen would speedily escape from their fangs." "THE ROLLIAD." This celebrated collection of Parliamentary squibs, which is several times quoted in this volume, was written by some of the most eminent of the adherents of Mr. Fox, and published occasionally in the form of small pamphlets. The writers gave their witticisms the shape of criticism on an imaginary poem, the title of which indicates the coming burlesque, and their effusions appeared in 1785. A full list of the authors, with their various contributions, is given by Lord Braybrooke in the first series of Notes and Queries. Earl Russell says: "While Mr. Fox, wearied with strife, was inclined to recruit his strength in the delightful shades of St. Ann's, the followers of the mighty warrior covered his retreat with the sharp missiles of wit and fun. A cloud of arrows flying around made the supporters of the Minister (Pitt) smart with pain, at once triumphant and ridiculous. The Rolliad,' or 'Criticisms on the Rolliad,' as it is more properly called, is the quiver of this squadron of wits." The origin of the title is thus explained by Moore in his “Mr. Rolle (M.P. for Devonshire), the hero of those unlucky persons whose destiny it is to be and to whom the world owes the same sort of gratitude for the wit of which they were the butts, as the merchants did in Sindbad's story, to those pieces of meat to which diamonds adhered. The chief offence, besides his political obnoxiousness, by which he provoked this satirical warfare (whose plan of attack was all arranged at a club held at Becket's), was the lead which he took in a sort of conspiracy, formed on the ministerial benches, to interrupt, by coughing, hawking, and other unseemly noises, the speeches of Mr. Burke. The chief writers of these lively productions BB Life of Sheridan :"The Rolliad,' was one of immortalised by ridicule, |