A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering in the Old Days. Joseph Grego
naturally found this parliament beyond his control, so it was prorogued May 27, 1679, to the 14th of August, but dissolved on the 10th of July. The whole country was in commotion during August and September in electioneering contests, preparing for the fourth parliament. It is to be regretted that electioneering broadsides have, as a rule, been allowed to perish; they would prove a mine of curious information.
The following is a pertinent allusion to the eventualities of the “poll:”—
“But most men did think
He had not so much chink,
Nor could pay for the poll of the County,
And therefore did fear
It would cost them too dear
Should they accept of his Bounty.”
(The Worcestershire Ballad.)
The opprobrious terms of Whigs and Tories were freely exchanged. Here is a Whig’s view of the “king’s men:”—
“As Rascals changing rags for scarlet coats,
Cudgell’d before, set up to cut Whig throats.”
The wit lay rather with the Cavaliers, though it must be confessed their opponents had the best of the argument when reasoning on facts.
The definition of the nickname Tory, as it originally arose, is given in “A New Ballad” (Narcissus Luttrell’s Collection):—
“The word Tory’s of Irish Extraction, ’Tis a Legacy that they have left here, They came here in their brogues, And have acted like Rogues, In endeavouring to learn us to Swear.”
By way of answer, the Tories exulted in their loyalty:—
“Let Tories guard the King,
Let Whigs on halters swing.”
The Court party denounced—
“Visions, Seditions,
And railing Petitions.”
The designs of the various factions were thus summed up:—
“Sir Tom would hang the Tory, And let the Whig go free: Sir Bob would have a Commonwealth And cry down Monarchy.”
The Tories retaliated upon their antagonists with interest, though they feared the zealots not a little, as the following ballad illustrates:—
“What! Still ye Whigs uneasie! Will nothing cool your brain, Unless Great Charles, to please ye, Will let ye drive his Wain? That Peer-less House of Commons, So zealous for the Lord, Meant (piously) with some on’s To flesh the Godly sword.”
(A Tory in a Whig’s Coat.)
One of the most popular “counter-blasts” to the Whig pretensions is embodied in the following parody, which enjoyed considerable favour, though not equal to Andrew Marvell’s diatribes “on the other side:”—
“A LITANY FROM GENEVA,
IN ANSWER TO A LITANY FROM ST. OMER.
“From the force and the fire of th’ Insolent Rabble
That would hurl the Government into a Babel,
And from the nice fare of the Mouse-starver’s table,
Libera nos Domine.
“From a surfeit occasion’d by Protestant feasts
From Sedition for sauce, and Republicks for guests,
With Treason for Grace-cup, or Faction at least,
Libera nos.
“From the blind Zeal of all Democratical tools,
From Whigland, and all its Anarchical rules,
Devisèd by knaves and imposèd by fools.
Libera nos.
“From Parliamentarians, that out of their Love
And care for his Majesty’s safety, would prove
The securest way were his Guards to remove.
Libera nos.
“From a Protestant Church where a Papist must reign,
From an Oxford Parliament call’d in vain,
Who because Fitz-Harris the plot would make plain,
Was dissolv’d in a fit and sent home again.
Libera nos.”
The newly elected parliament, the materials of which were equally unpalatable to the Court party, was summoned to meet in October, 1679, but, prorogued during the royal pleasure, it did not actually meet until October 21, 1680. The interval was marked by the presentation of loyal addresses and petitions for its reassembling. Further prorogued on the 10th of January, it was dissolved on the 18th, to be followed by the “Oxford Parliament” of eight days, which was dissolved on March 28, 1681. The nation saw itself on the verge of civil war, and, remembering what it had suffered—while opposing the encroachments of the Crown and autocratic exactions—from the opposite extremes of anarchy and fanaticism, the people were resigned to temporize, and thus Charles was allowed to rule without a parliament until his death.
The following satire is well-founded, and pertinent to the prevalent state of affairs:—
“THE STATESMAN’S ALMANACK.
Being an excellent new Ballad, in which the qualities of each month are considered, whereby it appears that a parliament cannot meet in any of the old months; with a proposal for mending the Calendar. Humbly offered to the packers of the next parliament,”
—which, as it fell out, never reassembled during the reign of the Merry Monarch. The rhymster, after rehearsing the sufficient reasons why every month, from January to December, is unfitted, according to the royal inclinations, for the assembling of a parliament, concludes with a prayer by way of—
EPILOGUE.
“Ye Gypsies of Rome
That run up and down,
And with miracles the people cozen,
By the help of some saint
Get the month which you want
And make up a baker’s dozen.
“You see the old Year
Won’t help you ’tis clear,
And therefore to save your Honour,
Get a new Sun and Moon,
And the work may be done,
And ’fore George it will never be sooner.”
The political squibs of this time are chiefly written by Cavaliers, and give a one-sided view, from which, however, much may be gathered. Though not actually election addresses, they refer to the claims which the electors of the kingdom found themselves constrained to address to the throne.
Among the collection of “Bagford Ballads,” so capably edited and illustrated by J. W. Ebsworth, M.A.,12 is a group of parliamentary election ballads, apparently of the date 1679–80, and relating to Essex, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, and the