on in the world." Furthermore, the
testator expressly enjoins the trustees to make
these payments in substantial sums,
sufficient to secure the object he had in view,
and not to fritter the fund away in small
sums. The chances of successful bribery
afforded by the existence of such a body as
these pasture-masters, were too obvious to
escape the watchful eye of the astute draper.
He proceeded at once to secure the pasture-
masters, and so judiciously did he manipulate
the funds with which he was supplied,
that in 1860 all the pasture-masters
were Conservatives. These persons, who
had secured their elections by the aid
of Conservative bribery, and who were
themselves, to a certain extent, bribed by
the very fact of their elections, naturally
enough set about keeping the ball a-rolling,
and, with the trust funds at their disposal,
took to bribing in the Conservative interest
with all their might. It was a small
matter to them that, on their election, they
were compelled to make a declaration to
the effect that they would faithfully, impartially,
and honestly discharge the
pasture-masters' duties without favour or
affection. The clearly-expressed wishes of
the deceased donor of "Walker's Gift"
mattered nothing to them. The gift was,
there can be no manner of doubt,
systematically distributed with a view to
political interests, and it very soon became
noticeable that staunch Conservative voters
invariably succeeded in obtaining the
largesse, to the exclusion of partisans of
the other colour. And it was not
particularly necessary to possess any
qualification, except that of steady party
voting. Thus, in three cases cited by the
Commissioners, it is clear that the
necessities of the applicants were not taken
largely into account. One Duncum, owner
in fee of twelve cottages, of the annual
value of thirty pounds, applied for, and
received, the gift; another, named Gawan,
the owner of two houses, living in a house
the rent of which was eighteen pounds a
year, and earning upwards of two pounds
a week, received six pounds from the
"gift." This person had lost nothing, and
was clearly ineligible as a recipient of the
bounty of the late Mr. Walker; but then
he had voted straight at the previous
election. Another person, named Lancaster,
adopted a more circuitous mode of obtaining
some of the good things that were
going about. This individual, a mechanic
employed in the Beverley Iron and
Waggon Company's works, and earning twenty-
two shillings a week, applied for, and
received, the charity under the pretence of
having lost a horse. The actual fact turned
out to be that, having Walker's gift in view,
he had bought a horse on Saturday,
nominally for three pounds. The animal died,
(as was probably expected) on Sunday, and
on Monday the bereaved proprietor sold
the carcase for fifteen shillings. Without
loss of time, he applied to the pasture-masters
for the bounty, and received three
pounds. When the gift was awarded, the
business was completed by the original
owner of the horse returning thirty
shillings of the purchase money to Mr.
Lancaster, who thus made a profit of two
pounds five shillings on the transaction.
It was a curious circumstance that when
the Commissioners endeavoured to get
explanations of these and similar cases from
the clerk to the pasture-masters, that
gentleman's memory entirely failed him as to
all points of importance.

That bribing money should have been
forthcoming at the elections of town
councillors was a matter of course, and
Mr. Wreghitt, who was chairman of the
Working Men's Conservative Association,
made, with the assistance of that body, all
necessary arrangements. The result, of
course, was that in a short time the town
council, as well as the pasture-masters'
board, was in the hands of the Conservative
party. But this was not all. Mindful of
the importance of beginning at the
beginning, and of training up a voter in the way
in which you wish him ultimately to walk,
Mr. Wreghitt directed his attention to the
young men entitled to their freedom, and
willing to accept the funds required for
the payment of the necessary fees, amounting
to two pounds ten shillings. It will
be seen that to be a freeman of Beverley
was, to a person of easy conscience, to
occupy a post of considerable profit. Besides
the grand occasional bribery at parliamentary
elections, all sorts of smaller
bribes were constantly going about the
town at elections of town councillors and
of pasture-masters, and then there was
always a chance of getting something from
"Walker's Gift"— a ludicrously appropriate
name. So it is not by any means surprising
that plenty of young men were to be
found willing to be introduced to this
profitable guild, and to be bribed in limine by
the payment of fees. The only question that
appears to have been asked was, whether
the candidate would support the major.
If not, there was nothing for him, it would
only be wasting the major's money. If the
reports of the candidate were satisfactory,