A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering in the Old Days. Joseph Grego
in fact, they were expected to make the bargain most advantageous for the court of livery or aldermen, in whom the votes were generally vested. Hence the old saying, “Money makes the mayor to go.”
“Here’s a minion sent down to a corporate town,
In hopes to be newly elected;
By his prodigal show, you may easily know
To the Court he is truly affected.
“He ’as a knave by the hand, who has power to command
All the votes in the corporation;
Shoves a sum in his pocket, the D——l cries ‘Take it,
’Tis all for the good of the nation!’
“The wife, standing by, looks a little awry
At the candidate’s way of addressing;
But a priest stepping in avers bribery no sin,
Since money’s a family blessing.
“Say the boys, ‘Ye sad rogues, here are French wooden brogues,
To reward your vile treacherous knavery;
For such traitors as you are the rascally crew
That betray the whole kingdom to slavery.’ ”
The elections of 1727, in spite of the exertions of Bolingbroke and Pulteney in the Craftsman, and the intrigues of the former with the Duchess of Kendal, mistress of George I., were a disappointment to the Tories and “patriots,” i.e. Jacobites. On the death of George I. their prospects were even less promising. Queen Caroline, the consort of George II., was the steadfast friend of Walpole, and although the Bolingbroke faction paid their court to the mistress of the new king, as they had done in the last reign to that of his predecessor, they gained nothing by their motion, as George II. was governed by his wife in political questions. The hopes placed by the Tories in the elections were altogether frustrated; in the parliament chosen in 1727 the ministerial majority was greater than before, and their opponents were reduced to vent their mortification in strictures against the bribery, corruption, undue influence, and those secret intrigues in which they were themselves such adepts.
Of the few caricatures to which this contest gave rise that best known is entitled “Ready Money the Prevailing Candidate; or the Humours of an Election;” and even in this the satirical allusions appear to have a general rather than a specific application. This picture, like most of the caricatures of the time, is slightly allegorical; the scene is evidently the outskirts of a town; colossal statues of “Folly” and “Justice” are shown at either side. As the title implies, bribery is the motive power of the entire action. In the centre is a figure with his back to the spectator; the rear of this person’s coat is covered with pockets, into which those interested in the work of buying votes are dropping money; the recipient is declaring, “No bribery, but pockets are free.” Another gentleman, with his hat raised in the air, is crying, “Sell not your country.” A whole body of electors behind these plausible individuals are standing ready to be bought; an agent is canvassing this group for their votes, with a money-bag to meet their requirements. To the right, a man is kneeling to secure a heap of pieces, which are lavishly scattered about, while another person is stooping to press a well-filled bag of money upon his acceptance as “a small acknowledgment.” One of the candidates, handsomely attired, and with a feathered hat, is carried on a litter by four bearers, much like “Chairing a member;” he has bags of money in both hands, and his progress is marked by a shower of gold “for his country’s service.” At the door of an inn stands a figure whose head is supplemented with antlers—“He kissed my wife, he shall have my vote!” “Folly” is personated by a male effigy, also emptying out money-bags to his votaries: before his altar a candidate is kneeling amidst his canvassing tickets; he is exclaiming, “Help me, Folly, or my cause is lost.” In the foreground is the figure of an ancient philosopher, who is made to say, “Let not thy right hand know what thy left does;” his left hand is accommodatingly held behind his back, and this an agent is filling with pieces. A person dressed like a Covenanter is crying, “See here, see here!” The emblematical figure of “Justice,” blind, and with her attributes of sword and scales, has her altar deserted. One man is admonishing his neighbour to “Regard Justice;” the other, who has a sack of unlawful treasure on his shoulder, replies, “We fell out: I lost money by her.” A modishly dressed candidate, hat in hand, is pressing a bag of money on another individual, who seems to have been bribed already, but is willing to accept further emoluments—“ ’Twill scarce pay, make it twenty more.”
O Cives! Cives! quærenda Pecunia primum est Virtus post Nummos.
READY MONEY, THE PREVAILING CANDIDATE; OR, THE HUMOURS OF AN ELECTION. (Dr. Newton’s Collection.)
[Page 84.
A copy of verses sets forth the morality of this plate:—
“The Laws against Bribery provision may make,
Yet means will be found both to give and to take;
While charms are in flattery, and power in gold,
Men will be corrupted and Liberty sold.
When a candidate interest is making for votes,
How cringing he seems to the arrantest sots!
‘Dear Sir, how d’ye do? I am joyful to see ye!
How fares your good spouse? and how goes the world wi’ ye?
Can I serve you in anything? Faith, Sir, I’ll do’t
If you’ll be so kind as to give me your vote.
Pray do me the honour an evening to pass
In smoking a pipe and in taking a glass!’
Away to the tavern they quickly retire,
The ploughman’s ‘Hail-fellow-well-met’ with the Squire;
Of his company proud, he ‘huzzas’ and he drinks,
And himself a great man of importance he thinks:
He struts with the gold newly put in his breeches,
And dreams of vast favours and mountains of riches.
But as soon as the day of Election is over,
His woeful mistake he begins to discover;
The Squire is a Member—the rustic who chose him
Is now quite neglected—he no longer knows him.
Then Britons! betray not a sordid vile spirit
Contemn gilded baits, and elect men of merit.”
THE KENTISH ELECTION, 1734.
A realistic version of the hustings appeared under the title of “The Kentish Election, 1734.” The locality of the gathering here represented is probably Maidstone in Kent. A large open space on the outskirts of the town is the scene of action. The candidates and their numerous supporters are raised above the multitude, and standing on the hustings. Round this erection is a great crowd of electors, many of whom are on horseback.
In the foreground, a mounted clergyman is at the head of a procession of his flock, all wearing favours in their hats, and professing themselves supporters of the “Protestant Interest,” i.e. Whigs; two of them carry staves and books; the “gauges” in their hands seem to indicate that they are gaugers or excisemen, i.e. placemen: it must be noted that the chief grievance against Walpole and his administration at this time was the attempt to tax tobacco and wines. The Opposition party-cry is “No Excise,” with the names of “Vane and Dering,” the successful candidates, in whose honour, with that of the “Country Interest,” i.e. Tories, which they had pledged themselves to promote, the followers of their party wear sprigs of oak in their hats—a