that I read of his appointment in the Times.
By the early mail-train of Tuesday morning he
left Northenville for town, and at noon that
day the nomination of members for the borough
took place.

The mayor of the town opened the proceedings
in the usual form. His speech was not
long, and was listened to with attention by the
crowd. When he had finished, Sir George
Staleybridge came forward and proposed Henry
Mellum, Esq., of Narlands Hall, as a fit and
proper person to represent the borough of
Northenville in the parliament of the United
Kingdom. Sir George was no orator, and,
indeed, his views of men and things in general
were as a rule somewhat misty. I had therefore
taken the precaution to have the
commencement of his speech written out for him
in a plain bold hand, with a hint in it that, at a
certain point, he might launch out in abuse of
the ministry and its supporters; that he was to
deem all men who voted against ministers to be
independent, and to praise them accordingly.
This part of his speech I left to his own invention,
merely noting here and there sundry hints
for his guidance. At one place he was told to
"praise the church;" at another to talk of our
"glorious constitution;" at a third to appeal to
his hearers to come forward and support "everything
that is dear to us."

Mr. Mellam's seconder was Mr. George
Holstoff, eldest son of the great brewer (Buddel,
Grongal, and Holstoff) of Northenville. Getting
this gentleman to support us on the hustings
was a piece of policy for which I took great
credit. I have great faith in publicans at an
election. In England they have as much
influence upon a great number of electors as the
priests have in Ireland. Now, to the publican
the brewer—provided the two deal
together—is very much what the Irish Roman
Catholic bishop is to the priest. Get the good-
will of the Right Reverend Doctor, and his
clergy will be your friends. Get a wealthy local
brewer to support your candidate, and the publicans
will follow his lead.

Not that Mr. George Holstoff knew anything
either about the brewery or the publicans who
bought so largely of his father's beer. He was
a Cambridge man, had been called to the bar
about five years, and was very fond indeed of
airing his oratory whenever he got a chance.
Beyond drawing his four hundred pounds a
year allowance from his father's London banker,
he knew nothing whatever of business. But
his name was good. He was liked in the
neighbourhood, and if a seconder can do a
cause any good, he certainly was a good card
for us to play. He spoke of the business-like
habits and great local interests of Mr. Mellam,
and contrasted these with the claims of Captain
Streatham, whose only merit as a candidate
(said Mr. Holstoff) consisted in the fact that he
was son of the Earl of Basement, who was a
cabinet minister, and that if the honourable
Guardsman were returned to parliament, the
electors of Northenville would "merely bind
themselves hand and foot, body and soul, to
support, right or wrong, through good report
or evil, a ministry of which every honest
earnest man in the kingdom was heartily tired,
and who seemed to remain in office because
they considered they had a prescriptive right to
the treasury benches." There were not many
of those who stood nearest the hustings that
understood what Mr. Holstoff said; but his
manner and way of speaking had evidently
considerable influence upon them, and they cheered
accordingly, the more so as most of them were
pledged supporters of Mr. Mellam's. I had
taken care to have my forces up early, and
with improvised breakfasts in their pockets,
they had surrounded the hustings before the
enemy was aware of their movements. The
morning was cold, and at all the public-houses in
our pay were hung out notices that early purl
was to be had within. For a pint of this, when
payment was offered it was refused; and
every man wearing our colours—mauve—was
served with a pint of purl and a good crust of
bread, with a piece of cheese, to keep the cold
off his stomach. The advantages of thus
providing for the commissariat of our troops will
be seen hereafter.

When Mr. Holstoff had finished speaking,
Mr. Hodgson (the cheesemonger, to whose wife
Lady Vance had sent medicine for her baby of
the same kind that was used in the royal
nursery), came forward to propose Captain
Bertram Streatham, "commonly called the
Honourable Bertram Streatham," as a fit and
suitable person to represent the borough of
Northenville in parliament. Thus far the
worthy tradesman was allowed to proceed
with his speech, but hardly a word more
was heard. At a prearranged signal from me
as I stood on the hustings, our supporters
began to shout and roar at the top of their
voices, and make playful allusions to the
business of the speaker, and his supposed short-
comings in dealing with his fellow-men. "Now
old Double Gloucester, how many ounces go to
the pound?" was the first salutation which he
received, and many more in the same strain
would no doubt have followed had I not by a
motion of my hand shown the free and
independent that stood below the hustings that Tom
Spavit stood near me. Of course, this was the
signal for a long series of personal remarks
about Spavit's well known financial troubles,
questions being shouted out as to when he was
last at the County Court, how much he owed
for blacking, whether he got credit for the new
hat he had on, and asking what tailor had
suffered by "booking" the evidently new
top-coat he wore. This hubbub lasted nearly
the whole time of Mr. Hodgson's speech,
during which was heard now and then the
words "fit and proper person to represent this
our famous old town;" "connected for several
generations with the interests of the county;"
"well known to my fellow electors;" "gallant
officer;" "consistent supporter of ministry;"
"upholder of the people's rights;" and so